Beyond The Friendship Paradigm
by banana.x.phone
Summary: After a bad break up, Penny turns to a friend for comfort. Is there something beyond their friendship paradigm?
1. Chapter 1

**Hi all, **

**Back with another story. I will try to update as often as I can, but I will try to keep it on a weekly basis. Reviews/favorites/follows are very much appreciated. Looking forward to this one.**

**Enjoy!**

Penny laid on her couch in yesterday's clothes. Her shirt was twisted around her body and her tight jeans left a nasty imprint on her hips. The taste of red wine lingered at the back of her throat, she tried to swallow it, but it persisted. Her head was relentlessly pounding and her insides were dull and achy. A week had passed since she had ended the relationship between her and Leonard. It seemed like it was only yesterday since a similar situation had almost ripped apart the social group that she was a part of, but that was months ago. She remembered how Sheldon became distant and anti-social, more-so than he was on a regular basis, after he and Amy broke up. Amy said they broke up because he wasn't providing her with the physical intimacy she craved, Penny tried to be empathetic toward Amy, but she couldn't. It was just a situation she couldn't see herself in. If there was no spark, there was no point.

It seemed like a good idea last night to sit at home with a couple of bottles of wine, wallowing in her sadness. Her great idea had come to her after her first bottle and a few episodes of Sex and The City. The fight that she had with Leonard a week ago, the fight that ultimately dismantled their relationship, replayed in her head over and over. He told her that he wanted to have children soon and buy a house and get married and it was all too much for her, she felt overwhelmed and smothered. Penny told him that she wasn't ready and confessed that she had major commitment issues. Leonard was unsympathetic and told her that he had been committed to her for years already and that she wasn't getting any younger so she should consider doing something with her life, rather than wasting it on waitressing and "acting".

It wasn't so much the break up that hurt, it was the fact that he thought that her life was pretty much amounting to nothing and that he could make it all better by making her a housewife. Penny shook the fresh memory from her mind and sat up on the couch. She looked around at the mess in her apartment and shook her head in disappointment. Clothes covered the floor, dishes were stacked on the counter and a few empty bottles surrounded the couch She needed to get her head back in the game. A shower and a clean pair of clothes was all she needed to get this train rolling again, a clean apartment would be nice, but Penny was trying to be realistic. She was bound and determined to bounce back and prove that asshole wrong.

After a hot shower and a decent scalp massage, Penny was ready to face the day, which was actually the evening, since she had slept all day. It was a start. After putting on some clean blue sweats and a yellow racer back tank, she put on her slippers, grabbed her mail key, and slipped out her front door. It was practically silent in the hallway, the fluorescent lighting overhead quietly buzzed and the air felt heavy and dry. As she made her way toward the stairs the back of her slippers hit against the bottom of her feet, breaking the near silence that surrounded her.

Penny walked down the stairs, concentrating on the task at hand. She desperately hoped that she wouldn't run into Leonard in the lobby. She wasn't ready to face him, it would just infuriate her and she wasn't sure what she would say to him. As she rounded the corner, she saw Sheldon standing with his back to her, sorting through the mail. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips, it had been a over week since she had seen any of her friends. It looked like he had recently gotten a haircut as his soft brown hair was cropped quite a bit shorter. He was wearing a blue t-shirt over a black long sleeve t-shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. Sheldon's "Vulcan" hearing must have picked up her footsteps because he quickly turned his head toward the direction that she was coming from. A small wave of relief washed over his face and he momentarily clutched at his chest.

"Penny. Thank goodness, I thought you were Leonard." Sheldon started. Penny fought off a smirk as she jabbed her key into the hole and opened the small mail box.

"And hello to you too, Sheldon." She dryly replied as she snatched her mail from the small box and quickly closed the door. The two of them walked together toward the staircase and Sheldon continued, not acknowledging her greeting.

"Penny you have to do something… anything, to get him to stop. He's been listening to awful, melancholy music all week. It's worse when he sings along, it's like a tone deaf dog howling for someone to pet him." Sheldon complained. Penny rolled her eyes.

"What exactly am I supposed to do?" Penny huffed.

"You could apologize to him and repair your broken, but ultimately doomed relationship." He quietly suggested. Penny stopped on the stair before him and looked him directly in the face.

"Not happening, Sheldon." Penny replied with narrowed green eyes. After she felt that her point had been made, she continued up to the fourth floor.

"Well at least come get your things. At night, he cries into a sweat shirt that you left in his bedroom. The walls are only so thick, Penny. I'm not sure how much more of his maudlin displays of emotion I can take." Sheldon countered.

"Fine." Penny agreed, mostly just to shut him up. There were a few things that she wanted anyway, and she would have to eventually face Leonard.

"Just so you know, there weren't any complaints about you listening to sad, sappy music when you were in a similar situation a few months ago." Penny reminded him as they climbed their last few steps. Sheldon stood in front of 4A with his arms crossed.

"That's because I had the decency to use noise cancelling headphones and listened to music without lyrics." He mumbled as his gaze fell to the floor. Penny smirked at his confession.

"Sheldon, Sweetie" Penny started. "You are one of my best friends, don't ask me how it happened, but you are and just because Leonard and I aren't together anymore, doesn't mean that our friendship has to end." Penny finished, gently placing her fingertips onto his crossed forearm. She felt his muscle flex under her touch and she quickly pulled away from him. His expression was soft and his eyes sparkled. Penny couldn't quite put her finger on the emotion prominently displayed on his face. Perhaps it was because she had never seen him express it. Was it sympathy?

Sheldon offered her a genuine smile and gently grasped her hand into his. Penny stood frozen in front of him, mostly in shock, as he softly rubbed at the back of her hand with his thumb. His touch was soft, and his fingertips seemed to glide over her skin.

"I know that we're friends, I didn't anticipate that to change, so to put it into colloquial terms, I'll see you around, pal." He said as he let go of her hand. Sheldon walked into his apartment, leaving her in the hallway alone. Penny sighed and returned to her own apartment. His touch lingered on her hand. Maybe there was a human being underneath all of his robotic layers. Putting the idea of human Sheldon out of her thoughts, she tossed her bills and junk mail onto the coffee table and picked up her phone. She quickly flipped through her contacts and created a new text for Leonard.

**_P: Hey. I know you probably don't want to hear from me right now, but I left some things at your place. Can I come by sometime to pick them up?_**

Penny's thumb hovered over the send button. After a moment of hesitation, she pressed her thumb against the touch screen, sending the text across the hall. She hated feeling like she was holding a bomb that was about to go off in her hand, but she waited for his reply. After a minute or two of watching him "type", her phone chimed in her hands.

**_L: K_**

She looked at his one letter response and frowned. She quickly typed out her reply, wanting to end this conversation sooner rather than later, for fear she would say something she didn't mean.

**_P: So when's a good time?_**

She watched as he typed. His reply came much faster this time with an annoying chime.

**_L: Whenever. I don't care._**

Penny gritted her teeth together and tossed her phone on the couch. Though his responses were warranted, she didn't really expect them to be so blunt. She wasn't prepared to go over to his apartment yet, so she decided to take a literal stance on his time frame and go when he wasn't there. That way, there would be no awkward encounter. Penny looked around her apartment and took a deep breath inward as she picked up the plates from the coffee table and placed them with the others on the counter. Maybe a clean apartment would come quicker than she thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**I just wanted to thank everyone, the response to this story has been great. I see some familiar readers and some new ones too, so welcome to all! Favourites, follows, and reviews are very much appreciated. I'm going to be kind of busy on Sunday with school work, so instead of forgetting, I'll post today.**

**As always, Enjoy!**

Just like clockwork, Sheldon's eyes snapped open. He glanced over at the green glow of his alarm clock, it was 5:58 am. He stretched out his lanky frame underneath his blue comforter and suppressed a loud yawn. Quickly, he sat up in his bed and waited 30 seconds before his alarm went off. He stifled the loud alarm, not wanting to wake up Leonard, but it was too late. He was already up and occupying the shower. Sheldon could hear his roommate's iPod playing some acoustic guitar laden song about being sad because someone broke up with you.

_"So kiss me hard, 'cause this will be the last time that I let you. You will be back someday and this awkward kiss that tells of other people's lips.." _Leonard's muffled singing was incredibly loud thanks to the acoustics in the bathroom. It had been exactly one week, five days since Penny broke up with his roommate. It was clear that she hadn't come to collect her things because Leonard was still caterwauling about broken hearts. This was getting tiresome. He was almost tempted to collect her things on her behalf and hand deliver them to her door.

Sheldon got out of bed, put his phone in the pocket of his robe, and walked past Leonard's tone deaf bathroom concert, toward the kitchen. He picked up a physics magazine off of the counter and tucked it underneath his arm as he prepared his breakfast and a cup of tea. He would have to chastise Leonard for throwing off his morning schedule. Sheldon re-read an article about Higgs Boson production in the presence of dark matter, though it was nothing he didn't already know. As he read, his phone chimed in his pocket with Penny's text tone, it reminded him of bubbles popping. He glanced at the clock on the stove, it was 6:15 am, why would Penny be texting him this early?

**_P: Hey Sheldor. There's a star trek movie on tv tonight, want to come over and watch?_**

Sheldon re-read her text a dozen times before postulating a theory. Someone had stolen Penny's phone and was trying to lure him to her apartment to kidnap him in a feeble attempt to get ransom money from the university in return for the safety of their best theoretical physicist. Sheldon was pulled out of his deep hypothetical thought at the sound of the bathroom door opening and Leonard coming toward the kitchen. He was wearing his robe and was toweling off his hair as he walked toward the fridge.

"Good morning, Sheldon. Sorry for messing up your schedule, I have to go into work early. You'll have to take the bus to work, sorry." Leonard stated as he pulled out his vanilla soy milk from the fridge and placed it on the counter.

"The bus!?" Sheldon complained. Leonard poured his cereal and nodded his head as he took a bite.

"Sorry Sheldon." Leonard said in between mouthfuls of crunchy flakes. Sheldon pouted for a second before realizing that Penny was awake, for reasons still unkown.

"It's ok. I'll see if Pen…" He started. Leonard quickly shot him a look.

"I can find another way to work." Sheldon finished. Leonard finished up his bowl of cereal and rinsed it in the sink, making his way toward his bedroom.

"Leonard, before you go.. I have to ask you something." Sheldon quickly said, stopping him in his tracks. Leonard turned around to face his roommate with crossed arms.

"Penny invited me over to her apartment and-" Sheldon rapidly began, but was quickly cut off.

"Look, I don't want you to pick sides. If you want to be friends with.. her.. then that's none of my business. I just.. I don't want to hear about it. Okay?" Leonard rattled off. Sheldon nodded.

"Okay." Sheldon agreed.

"See you later." Leonard said as he turned around and left the kitchen to get ready for work. Sheldon was left with the quiet hum of the refrigerator. He picked up his phone from the island and opened up Penny's text.

**_S: Is your circadian rhythm out of sync?_**

He hit the send button and lightly scratched at the stubble growing along his jawline. She was indeed awake because she was quickly replying to his text. His phone produced her bubbly text tone as her text appeared on his touch screen.

**_P: What? It's none of your business what rhythm I go by. Are you coming over tonight?_**

He let out a sigh.

**_S: Your circadian rhythm is, in your vernacular, your internal clock. Also, I accept your invitation to watch a movie, however I will be providing it as I will not have Star Trek being devastated by commercials. _**

He hit the send button and put his dishes away. He really should be getting ready for work. He was already off of his schedule by 30 minutes. _Pop-pop, _his phone chimed on the island. He picked it up and read her text on his way to the bathroom. As he closed the door, he heard Leonard leaving his bedroom and most certainly the apartment.

**_P: LOL. Ok sounds good. See you at.. 6?_**

He let the water in the shower run for a moment as he replied to her.

**_S: Penny, can you drive me to work? Leonard left early. I'll be ready in 40 minutes._**

He quickly undressed and climbed into the shower without reading her text. After all, he had a schedule to keep and couldn't allow it to become compromised for a second time. The water was warm and soothing. He let it flow down his body for a moment, while he thought about how much things had changed in a matter of only a few months. Sheldon didn't like change. He thought about how it could be awkward spending time with Penny without a buffer between them. Even if the two of them have gotten along in past situations for the most part, they didn't really spend time alone together. The one time that really stuck out in his mind was when they made Penny Blossoms together and he taught her those work songs. It eventually turned into a group activity, but for a while it was just them. The corners of his lips quirked up into a smile when he thought about her hair and the way it smelled. Green apples.

Sheldon ignored his growing arousal and let his thoughts wander away from Penny. He silently cursed his biological urges as he turned down the heat of the water and poured a small amount of shampoo into his hand and lathered it into his short hair. He quickly rinsed off and turned the shower off. He wrapped a fluffy green towel around his waist and picked up his phone from the edge of the sink.

**_P: Yeah, no worries. I have an appointment at 9. See you in a bit._**

Sheldon felt his stomach fill up with familiar butterflies. They were the same butterflies that he felt years ago, when they first met. It was a stupid crush that he couldn't suppress, even after all of this time. He felt excited and sick at the same time when he realized that they would be hanging out alone that evening.

Sheldon finished up in the bathroom and got dressed. He decided to wear a yellow long sleeve t-shirt paired with his black Flash t-shirt and a pair of light colored khakis. After he gathered his things, he slung his messenger bag over his chest and made his way out of the apartment, locking the door behind him. He walked across the hallway in a few long strides, where his fist made contact with her door three times.

"Penny" He called.

_Knock knock knock_

"Penny" He said a second time.

_Knock knock knock_

"Penny" He said, finishing his knocking ritual.

She was quick to open the door. She clutched her keys in her hand and she had a small grey purse slung over her shoulder. She was wearing a coral crew neck t-shirt and a pair of pale mint skinny jeans. Her long blond hair was styled into effortless curls that softly framed her face. She flashed him a bright smile as she closed and locked the door behind her. He wanted to tell her that she looked stunning, but didn't. The words stayed trapped in his throat. He knew that girls like her weren't interested in guys like him, Leonard being the exception, but their relationship was doomed from the start.

"Ready?" She asked, shattering the internal dialogue going on in his head. After realizing what she asked, he raised his eyebrows at her.

"If I weren't ready, do you think I would be standing here?" He retorted, he couldn't help but sound condescending.

"Shut up." She quickly said as she began walking toward the stair well. Sheldon followed her and they both were silent on the way to her little red car. He tried to think of something to say to ease the tension between them, but couldn't so he got into her car and looked out of the window as she pulled out of her parking space.

"So.. Do you want to play a game or something?" Penny asked. Sheldon turned his attention from the houses that passed by, to her. He gave her a puzzled look, which she caught out of the corner of her eye.

"I thought that you didn't like to play car games?" Sheldon quizzically asked. Penny stopped at a red light and looked over at him.

"That's because the games you pick are hard to play and are too sciencey.." She retorted as she proceeded through the light that changed to green. As he was about to tell her that "sciencey" was not a word, she quickly cut him off.

"Let's play the picnic game. I'll start. We're going on a picnic and I brought apples." Penny began. He was surprised at her enthusiasm about playing a car game.

"Penny, we're not going on a picnic. You're driving me to work." Sheldon replied. Penny glanced over at him and returned her eyes to the road.

"No, Sweetie. This is a pretend picnic. It's a memorization game so I start with something that starts with 'a', you go next with something that starts with 'b' , but repeating what I brought and so on, get it?" Penny asked. Sheldon nodded.

"We're going on a hypothetical picnic and I'm bringing apples, and beryllium." Sheldon said. Penny shook her head.

"Sheldon, you can't bring beryllium to a picnic!" Penny whined.

"Yes, I can and I just did." Sheldon retorted. Penny sighed.

"We're going on a picnic and I'm bringing apples, _beryllium_, and cake." Penny reluctantly continued. They continued with their game and were at the letter 'k'.

"We're going on a picnic and I'm bringing apples, beryllium, cake, uhhh.. dubnium, eggrolls, … Shit... What was 'f'? Uhhh… Damn, I forgot." Penny said as she tried to remember. Sheldon shook his head as they pulled up to the University.

"It's apples, beryllium, cake, dubnium, eggrolls, fluorine, gummy bears, helium, icing, and jalapeño peppers. How is that hard to remember?" He asked as they sat in her car.

"Yeah, easy for you maybe, you have a photographic memory." Penny grumbled. Sheldon shook his head and unbuckled his seat belt.

"I have an eidetic memory, Penny." Sheldon reminded her as he opened the passenger side door to get out. He paused and looked at her again.

"Thank you for the ride and the game. I'll see you later this evening." Sheldon said as he stepped out of her car. She gave him a small wave through the window and he watched her drive off. He took a deep breath and walked up the stairs to his work. It was going to be a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi Friends! **

**This chapter may seem a little ooc, but I think it works. Let me know what you think by leaving me a review! I am posting this for you today, chapter four will be posted next Thursday (18) and chapter five will be posted the Thursday after next (24). That's my schedule for the next few weeks, after all I do have three finals I have to study for. **

**Thank you all for reading :) **

**Enjoy! **

After she got home from her commercial audition, Penny put away her groceries. The commercial was for Priceline and she would be teaming up with William Shatner as his "secret" spy daughter. She couldn't wait to tell everyone about it, but it could wait until she got the part. She waited for five hours just to be called in to audition, but when they saw her, they genuinely seemed interested. Penny really hoped that she would get a call back, because it was a national commercial and they talked about having a series of commercials for the actress that got the job. By the time Penny got through the rest of her errands and grocery shopping, it was quarter to six and if she knew Sheldon Cooper, he would not be late.

It was odd, the more she thought about him coming over and them hanging out solo, the more nervous she seemed to get. She didn't know why she was so nervous, it wasn't like this was a date or something. It was just two friends hanging out, watching a movie. Penny couldn't even begin to think about what a date with Sheldon would be like. He would probably take her to Stuart's comic book store and then they would go out for ice cream or something. Penny laughed. She remembered when Sheldon took her on his first date with Amy. Talk about awkward.

Penny popped a bag of popcorn and took out two cans of diet coke from the fridge. As she poured the popcorn into a large bowl, Sheldon was knocking at her door. She finished what she was doing, because frankly, she had the time to do it. After he finished his round of knocks, Penny put the popcorn on the coffee table and answered the door. He stood in front of her with his hands clasped behind his back. Classic Sheldon stance.

"Hi Sheldon." Penny said as she moved and motioned for him to come inside.

"Hello Penny." He said as he walked past her, setting the blu-ray that he had in his hands on the coffee table, next to the bowl of popcorn. Penny closed the door and walked into the kitchen.

"Have a seat, can I get you anything to drink?" She asked. She watched as Sheldon sat on her small teal couch.

"I'll have a diet coke." He said as he opened the blu-ray he had brought over. Penny poured his diet coke into a tall glass and added a lime wedge to the rim. She knew he would ask for it, so why not get it right the first time. She sat down on the small couch and set their drinks on the table. After he popped the movie into the blu-ray player, he sat down next to Penny.

"Nice touch." He commented after he took a sip of his soda, lightly shaking the ice against the inside of the glass. Penny smiled. She couldn't help but feel happy about him being happy. She picked up the case and looked at the title of the movie. Not Star Trek.

"I thought we were watching Star Trek." Penny said, trying not to sound relieved, as she read the synopsis for Pan's Labyrinth on the back. Sheldon expertly navigated through the titles screen and the movie began to play.

"Well, I thought that you've probably watched the movie that was on television a handful of times, so I thought we could watch a movie that you would have never gotten the opportunity to watch." Sheldon reasoned as he got comfortable on her couch.

"Oh. And why wouldn't I have gotten the chance to watch it?" Penny asked. Sheldon took another sip of his soda and set it back down on the table. He quickly looked at her and back to the movie.

"Leonard doesn't like this movie, so the chances of you watching it have now grown exponentially since the two of you…" His voice trailed off as soon as he became aware of what he was about to say. Normally, he would have just blurted it out, but she found he was more aware of people's feelings since he and Amy broke up. Penny brushed it off and gave him a small pat on his thigh, which he quickly wiped off of his pants with the palm of his hand.

"It's okay, Sheldon. We broke up. People do that. I don't need to tell you what it's like." Penny said as she grabbed a handful of popcorn. Sheldon turned to her and watched her as she ate the handful of popcorn piece by piece.

"Penny, did you invite me over to watch a movie or to talk? Because we're not doing a lot of the former." Sheldon asked. Penny felt her cheeks get hot.

"Well, both I guess." Penny said, trying to convince herself. Though it was easy for her to see into her own charade. Sheldon paused the movie.

"If you wanted to talk, then why didn't you call Amy?" Sheldon curiously asked. Penny looked at the image that was frozen on the television.

"I did, but she said she was busy with her monkey study thing. I just need a friend to talk to, I guess." Penny explained. Sheldon looked back at the tv and silently nodded his head.

"I suppose, you're right." He said as he placed his elbow on his knee and his palm under his chin.

"What is the matter, champ?" Sheldon asked. Penny couldn't help but smile. She wondered if he heard himself talk sometimes.

"I don't know, I just feel like maybe I should have explained myself better to him. Leonard and I broke up on terms that weren't so great, y'know?" Penny softly started. Sheldon nodded.

"Penny, in my 'vast', and I use that term loosely, experience, there is nothing you could have done to have ended the relationship between you and Leonard in a way that wouldn't have figuratively crushed him." Sheldon offered.

"When Amy and I broke up, I think I would have reacted in the same way, even if things were sugar coated and presented in a 'friendly' way." Sheldon continued. Penny nodded her head in agreement. It was bizarre to hear it from his side. Amy always explained her reasoning as him not attending to her sexual needs, so she would find someone who would.

"Honestly, it was a relief." Sheldon stated, breaking the silent pause between them.

"How do you mean?" Penny asked. Sheldon cleared his throat.

"Well, while Amy and I might be intellectually compatible, I was never physically attracted to her. I was with her because it was easy and it was what everyone else seemingly wanted, so, against my better judgement, I went with it." Sheldon confessed. Penny was shocked. Not attracted to her. Did this mean that he had a type?

"So if it was such a relief, why did you hide away in your room for weeks?" Penny asked. Sheldon rubbed his palms on his pants and she watched his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed.

"It hurt to lose my friend, Penny. My relationship with Amy will never quite be the same, even just as friends. That fact still makes me feel sad." Sheldon told her. Penny grasped his hand into hers and gave him a little squeeze.

"Let's watch this movie." Penny said as she let go of his hand and picked up the remote and pressed play.

Penny tucked her legs underneath her and rested her hand on the fabric of her sofa. As she became consumed in the movie, she felt his pinky press against hers. She looked down at his hand and watched as he entwined their pinkies together. She felt herself blush and she looked up at his face. He was intently watching the movie playing out on screen.

Penny quickly looked away as a small grin snuck onto her face. Her heart pounded in her chest and her stomach twisted into confused knots. Surely, this meant nothing. It couldn't. As soon as she convinced herself that it was something she wanted but couldn't have, her heart sunk. She would have to take this moment for what it was, two friends, comforting each other. Friends could quasi-cuddle while watching movies.. right?

They sat quietly on the couch, fingers slowly becoming more entwined. She softly traced her thumb along the back of his hand and resisted the urge to cuddle closer to him. Her heart hammered in her throat and she was having a hard time concentrating on the movie. The movie started to get intense and Penny was squeezing Sheldon's hand tightly, practically holding his hand in her lap.

Penny's gaze fell from the tv to their hands. She quickly looked up from their hands into Sheldon's face. He looked at her and glanced down at their hands. Penny offered him a sheepish smile and quickly let go.

"Sorry." She said barely above a whisper as she wiped her moist palm on her pants. Sheldon mimicked her movements and placed his palms on his knees.

She suddenly felt embarrassed for holding too tightly or maybe for holding at all. She tried to focus, but it was next to impossible. She felt so comfortable with him mere seconds ago, which was surprising. He seemed to be comfortable with her, but Penny could never really read him. He was so damn enigmatic sometimes. The movie ended and the credits rolled onto the screen.

"Well, I should go." Sheldon said as he collected his movie from the blu-ray player. He moved to her door and Penny followed him.

"Sheldon?" Penny blurted out before he could make his escape across the hall. He turned to her and his blue eyes sparkled. She didn't want him to leave. His eyebrows were raised and he was looking at her expectantly.

"I had a good time tonight." Penny said as she avoided his eyes.

"As did I."He replied. His voice was deep and honest. Penny smiled.

"Good night, Penny." Sheldon said as he turned to leave. Penny watched him walk across the hall and disappear into his apartment.

"Good night." She said as she closed her door. Why did she have to hold his hand? Why did he have to make her feel like she was floating on a cloud?


	4. Chapter 4

**So I know this is coming to you guys a couple of days early, but I've just been given a take home final exam! Thanks again to everyone who is reading, I'm glad to see you are enjoying thus far. I especially wanted to thank nertooold54 for suggesting that Sheldon pack up Penny's things, I was going in a very different direction this chapter and I have to admit that I like the way this is heading even more now. :) **

**Enjoy!  
**

It was only a few days since he watched Pan's Labyrinth with Penny in her apartment. He tried to concentrate on work, but every time he started thinking about the friction of quarks in black holes, his mind moved to the friction of Penny's thumb rubbing against the back of his hand. She sat alarmingly close to him on her small couch, yet he didn't want her to be anywhere else. Her green apple scented hair wouldn't leave his memory, he wasn't sure that it ever could.

Sheldon quickly glanced at the wall clock, it was lunch time. He was thankful for the distraction. After going to the cafeteria and paying for his lunch, he found his friends and set down his tray on the table. It seemed that it would only be Raj and Howard accompanying him for lunch.

"Sheldon, maybe you can settle this. Who is the best companion to the Doctor? I say that it's Donna Nobel. She was the Doctor's best friend and she helped him get over Rose. Raj thinks it's Rose Tyler." Howard started explaining, but Raj was quick to cut him off.

"Rose loved the Doctor. She would have stayed with him for the rest of her life if she could." Raj countered. Howard rolled his eyes at Raj and opened his mouth to speak.

"You both are wrong, it's obviously K-9. That tin dog was the only one to truly understood the Doctor." Sheldon interrupted as he unfolded the napkin on his tray and placed it on his lap.

"Of course you would side with a _robot_." Howard muttered. Sheldon tossed an annoyed look his way and set his fork down on the plate.

"Where's Leonard?" Sheldon asked, changing the subject. He looked over at the empty seat across from him and picked up his utensil.

"He said he wasn't feeling well and he is probably going home." Raj explained. Sheldon couldn't help but feel apprehensive. He didn't want to get sick, not at the hands of his roommate. He would have to go home and disinfect everything with bleach. It wasn't exactly what he had in mind for this evening, but if he could prevent becoming ill, he would.

The rest of Sheldon's day went by quickly, instead of thinking about Penny, he thought about his sick roommate. Raj drove him home, for which he was thankful, even if he didn't outwardly express it. He walked through the lobby, up the stairs and into his apartment. He stuffed his nose and mouth into the collar of his shirt and scanned the apartment as he closed the door behind him.

"Leonard?" He called into the apartment. Silence.

"Leonard?" He called out again as he walked into the kitchen and acquired a surgical mask and a gallon of bleach. Leonard must be at the pharmacy or maybe he went to a walk-in clinic. Sheldon was pleased that he could diligently work on his disinfecting project without being disturbed by his roommate.

After cleaning practically every hard surface in the apartment, Sheldon took a break. He recalled a few weeks ago seeing some of Penny's things around the apartment, so he decided to collect them for her. He grabbed a small box and started putting her things in the box as he found them. He rummaged through the kitchen and only found a tube of lip gloss, not wanting to waste his efforts, he decided to search his roommate's room. He quietly tapped his knuckles on Leonard's door, the box containing Penny's lip gloss was securely tucked underneath his arm.

"Leonard?" He whispered as he clutched the door handle in his palm. He quickly finished his round of knocks and waited for a moment, listening at the door. After deciding that Leonard was either sleeping or not home, Sheldon opened his roommate's bedroom door. In Leonard's bedroom, he found another four tubes of lip gloss, a pair of fuzzy green slippers, a blue tank top and a zebra print bra. Sheldon quickly made his way out of Leonard's bedroom, into the living room.

As he set the box down on the counter, Leonard walked through the front door of the apartment. Leonard smiled at his roommate as he tossed his keys into the bowl by the door. When his eyes drifted toward the box, his smile faded. Sheldon felt an uncomfortable lump form in his throat, he tried to choke it down, but couldn't.

"Did you go into my room, Sheldon?" Leonard asked in an accusatory tone while eying the box with Penny's things poking out of the top. Sheldon averted his gaze to the floor, he really hated conflict.

"I did." He admitted. Leonard huffed and stormed past Sheldon. Sheldon watched him as he walked toward the back of the apartment.

"Leonard?" Sheldon asked, stopping Leonard before he could disappear around the corner.

"What?!" Leonard replied, clearly annoyed. Sheldon clasped his hands in front of him and stood a little bit taller.

"I would appreciate if you would take the necessary precautions to ensure you don't spread your illness around the apartment, perhaps you could start by increasing the frequency of your hand washing." Sheldon quickly said before Leonard dramatically rolled his eyes and continued on his way to his bedroom.

Sheldon listened to him stomp down the hallway and flinched when Leonard slammed his door. He sighed and glanced at the box. He hoped that Penny was home so he could deliver her things to her. Sheldon picked up the box and walked over to her apartment.

_Knock knock knock._

"Penny" He said as he leaned against her door.

_Knock knock knock_

"Penny" He said again. He watched for her shadow but it didn't appear.

_Knock knock knock_

"Penny" He finished, clutching the box against his hip a little bit tighter.

He heard movement on the other side of the door. It sounded like the tap was running in the kitchen. Sheldon became worried. All sorts of scenarios bounced around in his head, his mind flashed back to when Penny fell in the tub. He twisted her door handle and pushed against her door.

Sheldon stood in her door way, Penny stood in the kitchen. Her back was to him and she turned off the kitchen faucet and began doing some dishes. Sheldon closed the door behind him and watched her for a moment. He set the box on her coffee table and cleared his throat.

"Pen-" He started but he was quickly cut off by Penny's soft voice.

_"Now that I've tried to talk to you and make you understand." _Penny quietly sang. Sheldon slowly inched toward her as he listened. It was much different than when she was preparing for her role in that musical that one time. She sounded much more genuine and much more vulnerable.

_"All you have to do is close your eyes, a__nd just reach out your hands and touch me."_ Penny continued as she placed a plate into the dish drying rack beside the sink. Like a magnet, he was drawn to her, slowly inching toward her. Sheldon stopped at the island in the kitchen and placed his palms against the cool surface.

_"Hold me close don't ever let me go."_ Penny sang. She turned around and reached for a dish towel. Her eyes met with Sheldon's and she dropped the glass that she held in her hand.

"OHMYG- JESUS CHRIST, SHELDON!" Penny cried as she tried to jump out of the way of the glass shattering on the floor. Her cheeks burned a deep red, Sheldon could clearly see that she was embarrassed.

"What the hell?! What are you doing here?" Penny demanded, pulling two blue ear buds out of her ears. She tried to move toward him, but she collapsed onto the floor of the kitchen as she tried to grab at the piece of glass that forcefully stuck into her soft skin.

Sheldon quickly rushed from behind the kitchen island and knelt down beside her. Penny clutched at her foot, which seemed to have a piece of glass stuck in it. Sheldon set aside his aversion to anything injury related and quickly stood up.

"Penny, I'll explain, I just.. I'll be back." He said as he hurried out of her apartment and into his. He burst into the bathroom and collected some sterile gauze, a pair of latex gloves, a surgical mask, a roll of medical tape, and some alcohol wipes. He returned to Penny with the supplies, which he placed on the counter. He put on the mask, snapped on the gloves, and grasped her foot in his hand.

"I was in your apartment because I wanted to give you the things you abandoned in my apartment. You didn't answer your door and I heard your kitchen faucet running and I just needed to make sure that everything was alright." Sheldon muffled through the mask as he examined her foot. He knew he had to focus on the task at hand.

"Oh. I was going to get it. I just wanted the apartment to be empty before I got it. " Penny quietly admitted as he prodded the glass embedded in her soft skin. He fought off the urge to pass out as he forcefully pulled the shard out of her foot in one swift movement. He took a deep breath and looked away as blood trickled out of the lesion. He exhaled as he grasped the wipe in his hand, tore open the package, and placed it against her sole.

_"Ahhhgh." _Penny hissed. Sheldon pressed the wipe firmly against the bottom of her foot and waited for her to stop squirming. He finished cleaning her up and wrapped her foot up with the gauze and the tape. Penny looked up into his eyes and smiled. Sheldon avoided her gaze and swept up the glass on the floor.

"I apologize for startling you, I should probably go. I'm glad to see that everything is in order here. " He blurted out as he collected the rest of the garbage from his rescue mission. He chivalrously assisted Penny to her feet and offered her a quick smile before turned on his heel.

"Sheldon wait.." Penny called out after him. He stopped and turned toward her. He stood there, slightly embarrassed and hesitant. He watched her as she delicately walked toward him. She sat down on the couch and propped her hurt foot on the coffee table.

"I'm sorry for getting upset. Thank you for bringing over my stuff." Penny said. Sheldon nodded.

"You're welcome. For your stuff, not the startling. " He replied. Penny let out a small laugh. Sheldon didn't understand the humor in the situation but let out a gaspy laugh anyway.

"See you later, Moonpie." Penny said with a smirk. Sheldon rolled his eyes at her. He would never admit that he had grown fond of her calling him by his grandmother's pet name.

"Bye Penny." He reluctantly said as he left her apartment. As he closed the door to his apartment, he leaned his back against the door. The lyrics to the song she sang echoed in his ears. Surely, she couldn't have been referring to him. It was probably just random chance that he walked in for that song. If he had arrived just minutes earlier, it was likely that he would have caught the tail end of a Beyonce song. He felt lightheaded and disappointed. He wanted so much to be the guy. This was definitely the opposite of the evening he had in mind.


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright friends, this is coming to you a little bit early, just because you guys are so so awesome (and because I know I'm going to ace my final tomorrow). Seriously. You are the reason that I continue to do this. Thank you so much for your ongoing support. I appreciate every single follow, review, and favourite I get. Thank you, thank you, thank you!**

**As always, enjoy!**

She couldn't get that moment out of her mind. It had happened about a week ago. She was washing dishes in her kitchen and Sheldon caught her singing _More Than Words_. She was so embarrassed, but if he knew that she was singing it about him. She would have been mortified. It was sweet though how he cared for her when she stepped on a piece of broken glass. She would have just put on a Hello Kitty band aid that would have failed to stick to the bottom of her foot.

Her box of stuff was still sitting on her coffee table. She sifted through it three or four times already. It was almost all there, including the zebra bra. The thought of him touching it made her blush. This school girl crush that she had on Sheldon was getting out of hand. More often than not, she found herself thinking about him. Those thoughts had a habit of turning into fantasies and then Penny usually had to turn down the heat in her apartment.

The only thing that Sheldon failed to acquire was a sweat shirt that was probably hiding somewhere in Leonard's dresser. She decided not to mention it because she didn't want to have another embarrassing encounter with Sheldon. She still had a spare key to their apartment, and she originally planned on going in when they both were at work. Today was going to be the day. Penny had the day off from the Cheesecake Factory, and still hadn't heard back from her agent about the commercial she auditioned for, so she had to fill her day up with something besides sleep and painting her nails.

Penny glanced across her apartment at the clock on the stove, it was 1:34 pm. There was no doubt in her mind that Leonard and Sheldon were both at work, so Penny grabbed her keys from the coffee table and headed across the hall. She felt nervous, but wasn't sure why. It's not like she hadn't done this dozens of times before. She was the "Milk Thief" after all. Penny rolled her eyes at her apprehension and unlocked their door. The deadbolt didn't resist when she turned the key. It was unlocked. Penny shrugged it off and opened the door and slipped into the apartment.

It was quiet. She looked around at the furniture in the boy's apartment. Penny had always felt cozy here, well, that was until she broke up with Leonard. After that, she felt like it would be awkward, so she didn't bother coming over. She walked across the living room and smirked when she looked at Sheldon's whiteboard. It had a few formulas on it and a doodle. It was gibberish to her, but she knew that he was busy unlocking the mysteries of the universe. She recalled the first time they met. She could have sworn that he was flirting with her, but she knew that he didn't understand the concept, never mind having any sort of technique, so she brushed it off.

Penny picked up a red marker and drew a small pair of pouty lips in the bottom corner of his whiteboard. She knew it was probably going to push a button or two, but excitement filled her when she thought about him coming over to her place to chastise her. After she set the marker down, she proceeded down the hall. Her intrusion to Leonard's bedroom was halted by the faint sounds of moaning. Penny's heart stopped and immediately dropped into her stomach. She should have left, but she stayed and listened. The moaning stopped, there was a shuffle and suddenly his bedroom door opened. Shit. Penny turned on her heel and hurried down the hall. She prayed that she would make it to the front door, but she heard the footsteps behind her stop.

"Penny?" Penny didn't want to turn around. It wasn't Leonard asking her to reveal her identity. She felt sick to her stomach. Penny slowly turned around. She looked straight into the cool blue eyes of Amy Farrah Fowler. That bitch. Instead of feeling embarrassed, Penny felt enraged. How could her supposed "bestie" do this to her? Were all the times that she said she was busy with work lies? Penny folded her arms defensively over her chest and shifted her weight onto one foot. Amy stood in the hallway with her hair in a messy bun wearing a t-shirt of Leonard's that Penny bought for him at the comic book store. The t-shirt just barely covered her and Penny hoped that she had the decency to wear panties.

"Penny, what are you doing here?" Amy questioned, she crossed her arms, mirroring Penny's defensive stance. Penny scoffed at her question and shook her head.

"I came to get my sweater, Amy. _I_ should be asking _you_ what you're doing here." Penny said through gritted teeth as she took a couple of steps closer to Amy. She tried to be as calm as possible, but it just wasn't working to her advantage.

"What the fuck Amy? I thought we were friends?!" Penny quietly continued. She could feel the stinging of tears in her eyes.

"How long have you been fucking him? Huh!? Did you at least wait for his mattress to get cold?" Penny lashed at the girl she thought she knew, her voice raising a couple of octaves higher as she spoke. Amy narrowed her eyes, dropped her arms to her side, and balled up her fists.

"Penny, what Leonard and I do behind closed doors, is _none_ of your business." Amy retorted as she moved into the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the cupboard. Penny couldn't help but laugh.

"I can't believe this." Penny snapped. She was so caught up in her heated argument with Amy, she didn't even realize Leonard had come out of the bedroom and was silently watching them. Her eyes met his, and she couldn't hold onto her tears any longer. She quickly turned to storm out of the apartment, but was stopped by his soft voice.

"I can explain." Leonard offered. Penny felt hot tears stream down her face. She let out a breath that she was holding and turned around and wiped at her face with the back of her hand.

"I don't give a shit what you two do. I broke up with you, remember?" Penny said with a shrug of her shoulders. She looked at the two of them, neither of them looked sorry. Penny knew she had no right to be mad, but it still felt like she was being stabbed in the heart. With a quick nod of her head, she walked out of 4A. She wished she lived anywhere, but across the hall from Leonard. She could deal with him hopping into bed with some random girl, but she thought that Amy was her friend.

Penny sat on her couch and couldn't help but cry. Amy was a true friend and now that relationship was in shambles too. She couldn't believe that Amy could betray her like this, especially when Penny was there for her after she had broken up with Sheldon. They were supposed to be "besties". Penny knew it would take a lot of work to repair that relationship, but for now all she could do for now was wallow.

After crying for an hour, Penny eventually fell asleep. She was rudely awakened by Sheldon's OCD knocking. It didn't help the headache that pounded behind her eyes. She reluctantly got up off the couch and answered the door. Sheldon pushed past her and stood in her apartment.

"Please, come in." Penny sarcastically said as she closed the door behind him. His arms were crossed and he had a serious look displayed on his face.

"Did you touch my whiteboard?" Sheldon questioned.

"My ground breaking work in physics will not be compromised by a pair of red lips." Sheldon scolded. Penny rolled her puffy eyes at him. Sheldon noticed her red nose and the tissues on the coffee table, he was quick to pull up his t-shirt over his nose and mouth.

"Seriously, that's what you came over for?" Penny started as she flopped back down on her couch.

"Well, yes… Penny are you sick?" He mumbled through the fabric around his mouth. He sounded concerned. She was sure the concern wasn't for her.

"No, genius. I had a shitty day, and you're not making it any better." Penny warned as she leaned forward and avoided his gaze. Sheldon looked her over once more before sitting on her couch and pulling his face out of his shirt. Penny took in a deep breath, Amy's betrayal still stung. She felt the tears fill her eyes again and tried to stop them.

"Are you upset because Leonard and Amy are engaging in coitus?" Sheldon bluntly asked. Penny felt her tears slip onto her cheeks. She closed her eyes and tried to choke them back. She felt Sheldon's hand lightly touch her shoulder blade.

"There, there." He said as he softly patted her back. Penny instinctively took his hand in hers and placed her head on his shoulder as she snuggled up closer to him. She laced their fingers together and held their hands in her lap. Sheldon was a little bit stiff, but soon relaxed into her touch. They cuddled silently for a bit, until Penny spoke.

"I just thought that Amy was my friend and it sucks that she didn't tell me." Penny confessed. Her voice sounded small. Sheldon gently squeezed her hand. She knew that he wouldn't get it, but she was glad that he was listening. Again, they sat silently. Sheldon gently stroked the back of her hand with the soft pad of his thumb.

"Penny?" Sheldon asked, breaking the silence this time. Penny sat up and looked into his face. His blue eyes seemed darker in the low light of her apartment.

"Am I your rebound?" Sheldon asked. He sounded unsure of the words he was saying. They sounded foreign as they rolled off his tongue.

"Why would you think that?" Penny softly asked. She wasn't sure that he even knew what he meant. Sheldon softly shrugged his shoulders. It was a very different, more vulnerable side of Sheldon that Penny was pretty sure, she had never seen before.

"I heard Leonard say that about someone you dated after him when you broke up the first time." Sheldon told her. Penny felt herself hold his hand a bit tighter. Of course Leonard would say something like that. She wondered what else he said to Sheldon.

"No, Sweetie. You aren't my rebound." Penny assured him. Sheldon looked at their entwined fingers.

"So how am I supposed to interpret this? What does it mean?" Sheldon asked with a light squeeze of her fingertips. His eyes moved up her body and settled on her eyes.

"I don't know." Penny confessed. Sheldon looked a little bit disappointed.

"I'd like to find out though." Penny softly continued. His lips lightly twitched up into a smile that disappeared almost instantly. That blink-and-you-miss-it smile made Penny blush.

"Me too." Sheldon said just barely above a whisper. He quickly cleared his throat and straightened his posture.

"Penny, are you feeling less.." He began. Penny watched him search his brain for a synonym for shitty.

"Shitty?" Penny asked. Sheldon furrowed his brow at her language, but nodded his head.

"Yes." He replied. Penny smiled.

"Yes." She told him. Sheldon nodded. He was quick to stand up, releasing her hand as he did so, and walked toward her door.

"Penny?" He asked again. She loved that he said her name frequently in conversation. It made her feel like an actual person instead of an object being lusted after.

"Yes?" She asked.

"Don't doodle on my whiteboard." He said with a half smirk displayed on his face. Penny couldn't help but grin.

"Good night." He said as he opened her door.

"Good night Sheldon." Penny replied as he gave her a small nod and closed the door behind him.

Penny let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding. Holy crap on a cracker, was she dating Sheldon Cooper? She couldn't help but smile and let out a giddy laugh. The way he smiled at her when she told him that she'd like to explore their relationship further, made her stomach fill up with butterflies. The pain she felt about losing a friend was definitely still there, but the feeling she had inside her when she thought about Sheldon more than made up for it.


	6. Chapter 6

**I love that you guys give me suggestions. Who knows, maybe I will use them and credit you in the A/N. Reviews, follows, and favourites are greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading!**

**Enjoy!**

Sheldon sat at his desk, he intently stared at his laptop. The mouse pointer hovered over the send button of the email that he had composed earlier that morning. He read and re-read his letter over and over, he would hate for a spelling error to be his downfall. Another tenured position opened up at the University, and Sheldon was determined to get it. The last tenure position went to Barry Kripky of all people. After he decided he was satisfied with the email that would put him into the pool of candidates, he sent it off to Human Resources.

As he leaned back in his office chair thinking about all of the things he would do differently this time, Barry stood in the doorway of Sheldon's office. Sheldon snapped out of his deep thoughts when Barry lightly knocked his knuckles against Sheldon's office door. His eyes quickly focused on the green file folder he gripped in his hands.

"Coopah." Barry said as he entered Sheldon's office. Sheldon tried to look pleasant and folded his hands together on top of his desk.

"Kripky, how can I assist you?" Sheldon asked as he watched Barry plop down the folder into his inbox and take a seat on the corner of Sheldon's desk. Sheldon fought off a twitch that threatened to take over his face and offered Barry a forced smile that lasted mere milliseconds.

"I don't need help fwom you, Coopah." Barry began.

"Oh, I beg to differ." Sheldon egotistically retorted as he picked up the file folder that Barry dropped off. Barry rolled his eyes at Sheldon's smug attitude.

"I came by to dwop off something for Koothwapawie." Barry countered as he nodded toward the papers that Sheldon pulled out of the green folder.

"Also, it was bwought to my attention that you intend to appwie for the new tenure position. I also know that Hoffstadter broke up with Woxanne." He said with a quick raise of his eyebrows. Sheldon furrowed his and failed to make a connection.

"I don't see the correlation between your variables." Sheldon replied, he couldn't help but sound irritated.

"Well, I'm just saying I _could_ wecommend you fow the position _if_ you hook me up with Woxanne." Barry casually noted. Sheldon couldn't believe what he was hearing. He placed the papers on his desk, stood up and crossed his arms over his chest, making eye contact with Barry.

"You're hardly Penny's type." Sheldon spat as his eyes narrowed.

"Look, all I'm just saying is that a weccommendation fwom me could weally give you a leg up on the competition." Barry said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"I can assure you that she isn't interested." Sheldon said trying to end this awkward conversation. Barry got up off of Sheldon's desk and moved toward the door.

"Just think about it Coopah." He said glancing at his watch. Sheldon's gaze never left Barry as he quickly turned around.

"I pwobably should get back before I get fired… Oh wait, I have tenure.. so." He said while gesturing Sheldon to "suck it" just before he disappeared down the hall. Sheldon stood there fuming. As he thought about the audacity of Barry, attempting to bribe him like that, he heard his phone chime with Penny's text tone. He picked up his phone from his desk and read her text.

_P: Hey, you busy later?_

Sheldon thought about his plans for the evening. On their drive to work, Leonard mentioned that he and Amy were going to come clean to everyone. They wanted Penny to be there too. Sheldon quickly wrote out his text back to her.

_S: You forgot the verb in your poorly constructed sentence, but to answer your question, yes, I have tentative plans tonight._

Sheldon hit the send button and sat back down in his desk chair. He watched as she typed out her reply.

_P: oh. what do you have planned?_

He thought that if he told her outright that Leonard and Amy requested her presence, she would surely say "no".

_S: I was hoping you would come over for dinner._

_P: Pizza?_

_S: Yes. _

_P: Is this a date? _ Sheldon smirked.

_S: No._

_P: I see.. who's going to be there?_

_S: Raj, Howard, and Bernadette._ He waited for her to agree before telling her that Leonard and Amy would also be in attendance.

_P: It's a date :)_

_S: It's not a date. Also, Leonard and Amy will be present. They want to formalize their relationship within our social group, and "nip" the gossip "in the bud", so to speak._

_P: Oh. _

Sheldon could sense the disappointment in her text.

_S: Does that alter your decision to join me for dinner? _

_P: no, I'll be there. I'll see you tonight._

The rest of Sheldon's day went by quickly, he even managed to make progress on an equation involving neutrinos reacting to dark matter. The drive home with Leonard was quiet and uneventful and soon after getting home, people were arriving at their apartment. Sheldon kept himself out of any uncomfortable conversations by setting out drinks and setting up the Super Nintendo for "Anything Can Happen Thursday". Amy was the first guest to arrive, she sat down in the wooden chair beside Leonard who sat in the white arm chair. Howard and Bernadette were second to arrive, closely followed by Raj and the pizzas.

After faintly knocking on the door, Penny popped her head into the boy's apartment and grinned when her eyes met Sheldon's. Her blonde hair was up in a messy bun and she wore a dark grey v-neck t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Sheldon watched the slight sway of her hips as she walked through the living room and situated herself on the couch cushion next to his spot. He couldn't help but slightly lean into her as he sat next to her and reached for his bottled water. Her scent was comforting and familiar, it helped with his anxiety about the events looming before them.

He half listened to the conversation that was circling the room, but he focused intently on Penny. As they chatted about the girl that Raj had begun seeing, Penny unconsciously leaned in closer to Sheldon. Normally, he would have objected to her close proximity, but he found that after their interactions over the past couple of weeks, he welcomed the moment when her thigh lightly pressed against his. Midway through dinner Leonard cleared his throat. The group turned toward him as he stood up.

"I'm glad you guys are all here because I have some exciting news that I would like to share." He began. Leonard looked over at Amy and smiled as he grasped her hand into his.

"Amy and I have been seeing each other over the past couple of weeks and we're officially dating." Leonard announced to his friends. Sheldon looked over at Penny. He expected her to be distressed, but she smiled at the gaping mouths in the room. After the initial shock of Leonard and Amy's news, the group congratulated them. The night carried on and after playing Super Bomberman on the Super Nintendo, they called it a night. Penny stayed behind with Sheldon when Leonard offered to walk Amy down to her car. Their fingers automatically laced together as they quietly sat on Sheldon's brown leather couch.

"I'm glad that you invited me over. They seem really happy, and if they're happy then I'm happy." Penny confessed. Sheldon lightly squeezed her fingers.

"I don't understand, you were visibly upset the other night." Sheldon asked, seeking clarification regarding her sudden change of heart.

"Well, I thought about it and it's none of my business what they do. And besides, now that they're kind of together now, we don't have to feel guilty about wanting to…" Penny said, pausing to think of what say next.

"Shift our friendship paradigm?" Sheldon offered. Even though she nodded, he was sure she would look up the definition of paradigm when she went home.

"I have something for you." He simply said as he let go of her hand. Penny grinned at him. Sheldon stood up, walked off toward his bedroom, and quickly returned with Penny's sweater. He placed her neatly folded hot pink zip up hoodie on the coffee table. Penny placed her hand on his thigh and used it for leverage as she leaned into him

He was caught off guard when her moist lips pressed against his. Sheldon closed his eyes when he felt his cheeks flush and his heart palpitate. As she kissed him, his hands gravitated toward her shoulders, but instead of pulling her closer into him, he quickly pushed away from her kiss. He didn't know which social protocol he broke, but he knew from his slight embarrassment, it was because he either prematurely ended their kiss or because they kissed without formally entering into a relationship. His eyes darted across her face as he inhaled deeply, trying to catch his breath She was smirking at him and her green eyes sparkled with excitement. There had to be some rules governing this type of conduct.

Leonard came back into the apartment, interrupting the two and Sheldon's eyes snapped up toward the door as it closed shut. As soon as the moment passed, Penny plucked up her sweater from the coffee table and walked toward the door. She stopped in front of Leonard and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you for inviting me over, I'm happy for you and Amy." She genuinely said to Leonard. She quickly looked back at Sheldon and flashed him a quick smile.

"Thanks for my sweater, Sweetie." She called back to him as she opened the door to 4A and left. Sheldon sat on the couch still speechless from the events that had just transpired.

"Did I miss something?" Leonard asked. Sheldon could still feel the heat in his face. He looked up at Leonard and quickly shook his head "no". Leonard looked at his frazzled friend and shrugged it off as he walked toward the bathroom.

Sheldon let out a deep sigh that seemed to have gotten trapped in his lungs. He never expected the feelings and physical response that she elicited from him. He couldn't have stopped it even if he wanted to. He expected that kissing Penny would be the same as kissing Amy, but was fascinated by the different results. Everything that he had been suppressing was suddenly awake. Whatever it was, he wasn't sure that it could ever go back to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Enjoy!**

Penny walked up the stairs after a busy and stressful day at work. She had dealt with a very rude couple who didn't tip on their bill, even though it exceeded sixty bucks, a kid threw spaghetti at her, and her manager told her that half her shifts were cut next week, because they needed to cut back on hours. Still, through all of the stress and having to deal with everyone's shit with a smile on her face, Penny couldn't stop thinking about kissing Sheldon.

She didn't even know what she was thinking when she did it. He was probably pissed at her for invading him with her germs, she would likely never hear the end of it. The thing that got her was the way his eyes sparkled after. She had only really seen that kind of excitement behind his eyes when he talked about things that he was really passionate about, like science, or Spock.

Penny peeled off her grimy uniform and tossed it in her hamper. After changing into a pair of sweats and a comfy tee, Penny poured herself a glass of wine and settled in for an evening of channel surfing. As soon as she tucked her feet up under herself and turned on the television, there was a knock at the door. Penny grinned and waited for her name to be called out, but it never followed the knocks. She felt her heart sink as she got up to answer the door. As soon as she opened the door, Bernadette was rushing inside.

"Spill." She demanded as Penny closed the door behind Bernadette. Penny was caught off guard, it wasn't like she had planned a girls night or anything.

"Spill what?" Penny asked with a confused look on her face. Bernadette crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows at Penny.

"You know what I'm talking about. Last night, what was that all about?" Bernadette tried clarifying. Penny dismissively waved her hand and returned to her spot on the couch. Bernadette followed, set her purse down beside the couch, and sat down beside Penny.

"Leonard and Amy are together, so?" Penny replied, hopefully satisfying the curiosity of Bernadette, but Bernadette was quickly shaking her head.

"No, not that. I'm talking about you." Bernadette told her. Penny raised up her eyebrows as she took a sip of wine from her glass.

"Me?" Penny questioned.

"Yes, you. Last night you were cozying up to Sheldon." Bernadette finally said. Penny let out a nervous laugh.

"No I wasn't." Penny said she tried to stop her voice from cracking, but couldn't. Avoiding Bernadette's gaze, she quickly took a gulp of wine to avoid having to say anything further.

"Aha! I knew it!" Bernadette almost shouted. Penny couldn't help but turn red with embarrassment. Bernadette's eyes suddenly softened.

"How could you do that to Amy behind her back?" Bernadette asked. Penny practically choked on the protest that escaped her lips.

"Me?! Amy was the one dating Leonard behind my back!" Penny defensively retorted.

"I caught the two of them together before they told anyone and the only reason they told everyone was because they were afraid I would tell everyone first." Penny explained trying to keep her dignity intact.

"Oh." Bernadette mumbled. Penny finished her glass of wine and stood up to retrieve another.

"Do you want a glass?" She asked as she poured. Bernadette nodded her head in response.

"Thank you." She said as Penny handed her the glass. Penny sat back down and took a deep breath inward.

"I didn't want to say anything about Sheldon because I don't even know what's going on." Penny divulged. It was really the first time she said it out loud and she felt relieved to have someone to talk to about it, besides Sheldon.

"How am I supposed to talk about something if I don't even know how to define it?" Penny asked. Bernadette sympathetically nodded.

"It's not like we're officially dating. I mean, all we really do is hold hands and cuddle." Penny confessed.

"Oh my God, that's so cute." Bernadette cooed. Penny couldn't help but smile.

"So you guys haven't _done_ anything yet?" Bernadette suggestively asked. Penny quickly shook her head.

"No, well-"

"Well what?" Bernadette eagerly cut her off.

"We kissed- well, I kissed him." Penny told Bernadette. Bernadette sat on the edge of her seat, ready for details.

"Oh my God, and?" She pressed.

"I think I broke him." Penny said with a small laugh.

"He looked like he ran a marathon, he was all flushed and he didn't say anything. I might have scared him off." Penny continued. It was a thought that was lingering in the back of her mind all day, but to hear it aloud made her feel awful.

"Maybe him being speechless isn't a bad thing." Bernadette offered. Penny shrugged.

"I don't know, I just would hate to think that I grossed him out or something." Penny said.

The girls were interrupted by a knock at her door.

_Knockknockknock_

"Penny" The girls looked at each other with wide eyes.

_Knockknockknock_

"Penny" She couldn't help but grin.

_Knockknockknock_

"Penny"

Penny got up off the couch and Bernadette was quick to follow behind her. She quickly answered the door and was met with a Friday pajama clad Sheldon. In his hands he held a stack of paper neatly put together with a big red paper clip. He glanced over Penny's shoulder at Bernadette who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Hello. I didn't realize you had company, I can come back later." He quickly sputtered as he hid the papers behind his back. Bernadette pushed past both of them out into the hallway with her purse in hand.

"It's okay, I was just leaving. Thanks for the wine Penny." She sweetly said. Penny watched her take a couple of steps toward the stairs, and then she held up her fingers to her ear like a telephone mouthing the words "call me later". Penny discreetly nodded her head and Sheldon looked back over his shoulder, but Bernadette was already gone. Penny turned her attention toward Sheldon who awkwardly stood in her doorway.

"Whaddup, Moonpie?" She said with a grin. Sheldon rolled his eyes at her, to which she smiled wider.

"Penny, we need to discuss what happened last night. May I come in?" He quietly asked with a quick raise of his eyebrows. Penny nodded and moved aside. Shit, she was in for it. Sheldon stepped into her apartment and she closed the door behind him. He looked around at her messy apartment and shook his head.

"How you can live in this obliteration you call home, I will never understand." Sheldon muttered as he plucked a sheer black tank top from the chair adjacent to the couch, folded it and set it on the island before sitting down in the chair. Penny sat on the couch and bit back the sarcastic comment that threatened to slip from her tongue.

"Penny, the manner in which you conducted yourself last night was unexpected." Sheldon started. Penny nodded her head, at least he didn't say something like "unpleasant".

"As you know, I am a firm believer in homeostasis. Do you remember what that is?" He asked. Penny rolled her eyes at him.

"It means you're a whack-a-doodle control freak?" She sweetly replied with a sarcastic smile, Sheldon frowned in response.

"It means, Penny, that I don't like surprises." Sheldon continued.

"I like to have control over my environment, so with that being said, I am here to present to you a set of rules and guidelines concerning such conduct." Sheldon said as he handed over the papers to Penny. Penny looked at the cover page. _First Draft: Relationship Agreement between Sheldon L. Cooper and Penny E. Adams_. She glanced up from the paper into Sheldon's waiting face.

"You're unbelievable." Penny said as she flipped to the middle of the document.

"I know." He replied as she read.

"Sheldon, I'm not agreeing to this stuff, 'Before engaging in any type of kiss, both parties agree to have rinsed with antiseptic mouth wash at least five minutes prior to commencement of the act', that's just crazy!" Penny stated. She flipped another few pages and read another absurdity aloud.

"Penny agrees to accompany Sheldon to all appointments in the event that Leonard breaches the Roommate Agreement." She looked up at Sheldon who sat quietly in the chair.

"Sheldon, what about spontaneity, what about passion? I'm sorry, but I can't sign this." Penny said as she set the papers down on the table in front of her. Sheldon cleared his throat and stood up. Penny's eyes followed him as he sat beside her on the couch; cautiously, he picked her hands up into his.

"Penny, I want to alter our relationship, and this is the only way I know how." He explained. Penny nodded, she would just have to show him that a little bit of chaos didn't have to be a bad thing.

"You can't put me down on paper and sign off on me with a neat little signature. If you want to be with me, you are going to have to accept that I am a little bit chaotic, I'm messy, and crass, and sarcastic. That's me, that's who I am. I can respect your rules and schedules, but you can't expect me to agree to some of the things you're asking." Penny told him.

"It seems that we've reached an impasse." Sheldon stated.

He studied her momentarily, she watched his eyes run along her hairline, skim across her cheeks and settle on her collarbone. Penny pulled on his hands and guided him closer to her. She softly kissed him. She let go of his hand and placed her finger tips on his cheek, lightly scratching at his eight o'clock shadow. Gently, she took his soft bottom lip between hers and sucked on it for a moment. Her heart hammered in her chest and she felt like she was on fire. Sheldon pulled away and looked into her eyes. His pupils were dilated and his breath was short.

"Penny.." He breathed, clearly unsure about the situation and how to proceed.

"Please, just trust me." She whispered, brushing his hair off of his forehead with the tips of her fingers. Automatically, he nodded his head.

Penny gripped his plaid pajama top and pulled him in close. Their lips met and locked. She placed one of her hands on his chest and the other ran up his neck and into his hair. His heart rhythmically beat against her palm, and she let her hand move with the rise and fall of his chest. Sheldon responded to her touch by running his hands along her sides, settling them on her hips.

She slowly started moving her lips and encouraged Sheldon to mimic her movements, with little effort they were engaging in a heated open mouthed kiss. Penny slowly laid back on the couch, coaxing Sheldon on top of her, lips still locked. She moved her hand from his chest into his short brown hair, and she moved her other hand on top of his, guiding it to her thigh.

His large hand effortlessly sprawled across her thigh, he used it as leverage to pull himself closer to her. Penny softly moaned into their kiss when he did this, causing him to grip at her thigh. Sheldon pressed his arousal against Penny's aching center, eliciting a gasp from her. He took the opportunity to gently touch his tongue to hers for just a second before he pulled away from their heated kiss. His face was rosy and his hair was disheveled, no thanks to Penny's busy hands.

"Penny, I have to go." Sheldon concluded. Penny nodded, she decided that she would respect his boundaries, she wanted him to feel like he was in control of the situation. He sat up, straightened out his clothing and as he stood up, he picked up the papers from the coffee table. Still slightly breathless, Penny followed him to the door. He opened the door and walked out into the hallway.

"I'll agree to five of your rules, but only if you agree to some of my chaos." Penny compromised. She watched his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed hard. She could tell that he felt conflicted, but smiled when he nodded in agreement.

"Good night, Penny." He said. Penny watched him walk across the hall.

"Good night Moon Pie." She called out after him as he entered his apartment.

She closed her door and leaned her back against it. Her hand rested against her chest, she could feel her heart rate beginning to slow down. Their heated exchange felt like fireworks, but instead of having them go off one at a time, some idiot set the whole damn box on fire. Passion like that couldn't be contained to a 22 page legally binding document, but she recognized Sheldon's need for control, which is why she offered him five rules. Hopefully he would be able to contain it to one page. Penny let out a sigh and couldn't help but grin, Sheldon Cooper had a deal. Her grin grew wider when she thought about his deal pressing against her. Oh yes, he definitely had a deal.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hi friends! You guys are awesome. Do you know that? Of course you do! I have a surprise at the end of the chapter.  
**

**Enjoy!**

The apartment was silent, except for the sound of rain hitting the large window in the living room and Sheldon's fingers rhythmically typing at his laptop. It had been two hours since Sheldon's alarm went off, it had been an hour and a half since he tried to catch up on the newest episode of Doctor Who on BBC America, and it had been an hour since he had begun revising the Relationship Agreement that was presented to Penny last night. He almost thought it couldn't be done, but after having a small panic attack, he managed to cut the document down to ten pages, including appendices, cover page, preamble, and concluding paragraphs.

The first rule that Sheldon wanted in the agreement was concerning public displays of affection, he wanted to ensure that there was a line that would not be crossed while the two of them were with friends or if they were out in public together.

**Section 1: Public Displays of Affection (PDA)**

i) PDA will be limited to hand holding while both parties are occupying public spaces together

ii) PDA will be limited to hand holding and no more than a maximum of three (3) chaste kisses on the cheek/and or lips while both parties are in the presence of friends

iii) Breaching the aforementioned rule will result in a strike on the offender's permanent relationship record

iv) See Appendix A for unacceptable PDA acts

The second rule Sheldon wanted to ensure was in the agreement was about spending time together. He wanted to ensure that both parties would spend a sufficient amount of time together without smothering each other.

**Section 2: Date Night and Other Miscellaneous Activities**

i) Date Night will be allotted for the third Friday of the month. In the event that Date Night falls on another night, such as Comic Con, Date Night will be rescheduled to either the Friday before or the Friday after

ii) Attire must be mutually agreed upon, and must be cohesive with the activity

iii) Other activities may be planned, for example Movie Night

iv) Miscellaneous activities must be presented to the other party within a reasonable time period which will be agreed upon by both parties and annotated in the space provided: _

v) See Appendix B for acceptable attire/activity combinations

The third rule Sheldon wanted in the agreement outlined unfaithfulness. Though he didn't think it would be a concern, he wanted to ensure both parties had a clear understanding of the expectations surrounding the subject.

**Section 3: Infidelity**

i) Unfaithfulness WILL result in immediate termination of this agreement

ii) See Appendix C for unacceptable behavior

The fourth rule Sheldon wanted in the agreement was about mutual respect for one another. He needed to make sure that both parties respect each other not only professionally, but also in a general sense.

**Section 4: Respect for One Another**

i) Both parties will respect one another in their professional endeavors

ii) Both parties will respect one another in their personal endeavors

The last rule Sheldon wanted in their agreement was about communication. He wanted there to be an open pathway in their relationship, and he wanted her to feel like she could open up to him and vice versa.

**Section 5: Communication**

i) Both parties are expected to keep an open line of communication with each other

ii) Concerns regarding this agreement and/or any verbal contracts made hereafter will be discussed in the following hierarchical mediums:

Face to face, Telephone conversation, Text message

Sheldon looked over his revised Relationship Agreement and felt satisfied. He hit the print button and listened to the printer start up and whirr as it spit out the pages of his document. After neatly binding them together with a staple in the top left hand corner, he closed the lid to his laptop and placed the document precisely centered on his computer. Sheldon stood up from his desk and walked to his bedroom. It was 8:20 and Sheldon was already late getting his day started.

As he chose his clothes and pre-sorted his laundry for Laundry Night, he couldn't help but think that if Penny hadn't coerced him into that heated kiss, he would have been able to get through Doctor Who and he would have been already been showered and working on planning his next episode of _Sheldon Cooper Presents "Fun With Flags"_. He quickly pushed the memory from his mind and walked toward the bathroom.

Sheldon quickly closed the door and turned on the taps for the shower. As the water warmed up, he took off his plaid pajama shirt and tossed it in his hamper. Steam filled the room and fogged up the mirror. He gently rubbed at his bare arms, under his white t-shirt as the memory of Penny's lips on his returned. Sheldon stripped off his white t-shirt and placed it in his hamper on top of his pajama shirt. He lightly scratched at his lower abdomen as he thought about her hand running through his hair. The feeling that washed over him caused him to close his eyes and shiver. Suddenly, he was very aware of his own arousal.

"Good God, get a grip, Cooper." He outwardly chastised himself as he tried to shake Penny from his thoughts. He quickly stripped off the rest of his clothing and got into the hot shower. He let the hot water flow down his back as snippets of their make out session flashed into his mind. His stomach tightened when he recalled how she moaned when he gently dug his fingernails into her firm thigh and he felt short of breath at the thought of him pressing against her most intimate area.

He couldn't take it. Sheldon leaned against the wall in the shower as he gripped himself in his palm. He ached at the thought of touching his tongue to hers. Sheldon could tell that he was close, but it was the thought of Penny being in the very same shower in which he stood on the first day that they met that got him to the edge. _You're one of those beautiful mind, genius guys? _Her words pushed him over, there was no going back. Sheldon released himself onto the floor of the shower and stood there for a moment, breathless.

After mentally collecting himself, he ran his hands through his wet hair and let out a breath that he was holding. His heart pounded underneath his ribs and his fingertips felt like they had fallen asleep. In that moment, he knew there was no turning back and no hiding from his urges and that terrified him. Sheldon quickly finished up in the shower and after dressing, he went into the living room.

He collected the revised Relationship Agreement and walked over to Penny's apartment with it. He checked the time before knocking on the door. It was nine o'clock and despite Penny's no knocking before eleven, he knocked anyway. Penny opened the door after his first round of knocks which was surprising. She was dressed in her Cheesecake Factory uniform and had her hair in a bun, and her bangs pinned up, out of the way.

"Hey Sheldon, what's up?" She quickly asked as she closed and locked the door behind her, juggling her purse, keys and an umbrella. He hadn't anticipated her to be leaving and he was hoping they could talk about the changes he made to the document as per section five.

"This is for you to peruse." He began, Penny skimmed the pages as he spoke.

"As you can see, I have taken the liber-"

"Simplify it." Penny cut him off as she passed back the papers. She began walking toward the stairs and Sheldon followed her.

"Simplify it?" Sheldon asked, his voice slightly cracking. He was truly confused about her request.

"Yes." Penny replied as she stopped at the stairs.

"I don't get your legal mumbo jumbo blabber, so make it easy for me to understand. I was thinking more along the lines of one page." Penny said with a challenging raise of her eyebrows. Sheldon scowled.

"I'm a blonde monkey, remember?" Penny asked sardonically. Sheldon rolled his eyes at her and she smirked back. Penny placed her hand on his cheek and softly pressed her lips to his. Sheldon pulled away, licking at the strawberry lip gloss that she left behind on his lips.

"I gotta go. Simplify, Sheldon." Penny gently reminded. She quickly descended the stairs, leaving Sheldon alone in the hall.

He walked back into his apartment and closed the door behind him. He set the papers on the table and walked into the kitchen to make some tea. How was he supposed to simplify his document further? He wasn't accustomed to thinking on such a rudimentary level, but today wasn't the day that he would back down from an academic challenge.

"Hey Sheldon." Leonard called into the apartment while closing the front door behind him. Sheldon's thoughts were burst like a soap bubble. He glanced at Leonard who set down his messenger bag and walked toward the couch. Sheldon did a double take and watched his roommate who was busy picking up his needed-to-be-simplified Relationship Agreement with Penny. His heart stopped and dropped down into his stomach.

"What's this?" Leonard asked as he flipped through the pages of the document. Sheldon swallowed at the uncomfortable lump in his throat. Leonard looked up from the paper at Sheldon, which made his discomfort level rise. Sheldon nervously shifted in his spot while he tried to find reasoning for the papers.

"Are you thinking about asking Penny out?" Leonard asked. The kettle began to whistle, Leonard's gaze did not falter.

"Yes." Sheldon said while looking at the ground. It was the truth, but not the whole truth. Leonard half smirked at Sheldon.

"You honestly think that you have a shot with her? It's not like I care, I'm with Amy now, but really? Penny?" Leonard said in an overtly condescending tone. Sheldon turned around and took the kettle off the stove, as the whistling was driving him to insanity. He poured the hot water in a mug and plunked a chamomile tea bag in the hot water, he could use some comfort.

"What makes you so certain that I don't have a shot?" Sheldon calmly countered. Leonard laughed halfheartedly, while Sheldon stood behind the island, trying not to let his roommate's mocking shake his confidence.

"What you fail to recognize is that I have science on my side." Sheldon said with a small smirk. Leonard set down the papers and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Science? Really?" Leonard questioned. Sheldon nodded.

"The Proximity Principle suggests that people have the tendency to form relationships with those that are close by. Since you are otherwise occupied in your relationship with Amy, the odds are greatly stacked in my favor. Propinquity also allows individuals to interact more frequently, and with more frequent interactions the odds of positive interactions increase." Sheldon rattled off. Leonard looked dumbfounded, perhaps he hadn't thought of it like that.

"Also, we've already agreed to it." Sheldon smugly added. Leonard got buggy eyed and dropped his defensive arms to his sides.

"Does Penny know that she's 'in a relationship' with you?" He sputtered using air quotations to emphasis his disbelief. Sheldon scowled.

"Of course she does." He retorted. Leonard seemed to be done with the conversation, he quickly turned on his heel and walked toward his bedroom.

"Yeah, ok. I'll believe it when I see it." Leonard chided as he walked down the hall, disappearing out of sight. Sheldon waited a few moments before digging around in his pocket for his phone. He pulled it out and quickly wrote a text to Penny.

_S: Leonard read it._

He felt ill. He wished that he had just kept it on his laptop, that encounter would have never happened and he wouldn't be feeling terrible and guilty. His counterfactual thinking was interrupted by his phone vibrating in his hand.

_P: so? It's none of his business_

Sheldon briefly nodded his head in agreement and typed out a text.

_S: Why aren't you working?_

_P: I'm on break_

_S: Will you be home in time for Laundry Night?_

_P: :D I wouldn't miss it_

_S: Very well, see you tonight_

Sheldon stuffed his phone back into his pocket and grabbed the papers from the coffee table. He dusted them off and took them to his laptop. His finger flew across the keyboard.

_1. __Respect my boundaries when it comes to PDA_

_2. __Date Night is every third Friday of the Month. If there is something that conflicts, we can reschedule_

_3. __Don't cheat. I would rather the relationship end than endure that scenario_

_4. __Quid Pro Quo. We need to maintain a mutual respect for one another in our personal and professional lives_

_5. __If there are issues, they need to be discussed. Face to face is preferred_

_Sheldon Lee Cooper & Penelope Elizabeth Adams_

_ **o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o**_

**_Also, it has almost been one year since I have posted my first fan fiction, Falling. I wanted to take a moment to say how touched and humbled to be part of such an amazing community. Without you guys, there is no community, and without a community, what's the point?_**

**_I know some of you are feeling let down with cannon and the show and believe me, I am too. To boost some spirits and to give my appreciation I will be hosting a giveaway on my live journal. I will have all the details there, you can find the "link" in my profile, but I'll post it here as well. _**

**_ banana-x-phone dot livejournal dot c om  
_**

**_Your anonymity is important to me, so I will be giving away two $25 gift certificates to thinkgeek. This way you choose to participate and I will only be asking for a first name/username and an email address. It will run from May 1 to May 5, so check my lj then. The winners (2 of them) will be contacted on May 6th.  
_**

**_You guys are truly amazing, and with out you I wouldn't have the confidence to continue writing. Thank you so so much, seriously. You rock!_**


	9. Chapter 9

**Enjoy! **

Penny sat in her car with tears in her eyes. She clutched her phone to her chest and let out a breath that was stuck in her lungs. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she was quick to wipe it away. Her agent called about the Priceline commercial. A grin broke out on her face and she started laughing. Penny couldn't believe she would be in a national commercial. Not only that, she would be working with William Shatner.

After pulling the key out of the ignition, Penny exited her car. She couldn't wait to tell Sheldon. After racing into the lobby and up the stairs, she unlocked the door to her apartment and went inside. Penny quickly changed into a pair of pink sweats and a yellow crewneck t-shirt. After collecting her haphazardly strewn about laundry into her basket, she tossed on a pair of sheepskin boots and walked out into the hallway. In the hallway was Sheldon leaning against the door to his apartment, he looked prepared for laundry night with his basket of whites in hand.

"Hey! I was just coming to get you!" Penny excitedly said as she walked over to him. He pushed off the door and the two began their decent to the laundry room.

"Why were you waiting in the hallway?" Penny asked. Sheldon couldn't help but let out an exasperated huff.

"Leonard invited over Amy." He simply explained. It took Penny a moment to understand his frustration.

"Oh." She sympathetically said. Sheldon nodded as they rounded the corner to the third floor.

"'Oh' indeed, she's even more boisterous in the bedroom than you were." Sheldon offhandedly commented. Penny frowned.

"I'm sorry Sweetie." She said offering her sympathy. He looked at her slightly confused.

"Why would you be sorry? You're not the one crying out to a deity that I assert does not exist." He told her. Penny couldn't help but frown again as they walked through the lobby.

"Oh god." She said as her expression soured, she couldn't help picturing it in her head.

"Exactly." Sheldon replied.

They walked into the laundry room and Penny chose the first washer. After dumping all of her clothes into the washer, she poured what little detergent she had left over her clothes. She closed the lid and started the cycle, turning around to face Sheldon.

"You really should sort your clothes into whites, darks, and colors." He chastised. Penny could see him holding off a twitch, causing her to smile. She hopped up onto the table as he proceeded to begin doing his laundry. He pulled out his liquid detergent and a pack of antibacterial wipes. After he wiped down the machine he chose to use, both inside and out, he carefully placed his clothing into the washer and meticulously measured out his laundry detergent. He closed the lid and started the cycle. Penny watched as he retrieved an envelope from the bottom of his basket.

"This is for you." He said, handing her the envelope. Penny looked up into his blue eyes, they were cool, calm, and collected. She opened the envelope and took out a single sheet of paper. It was his five rules crammed onto one page. She read through them, smiling and agreeing with them.

"Why is there nothing about germs?" Penny mockingly asked as she set down the piece of paper beside her on the table. Sheldon shrugged.

"You wanted my document condensed to one page, things needed to be prioritized, and unfortunately my aversion to germs didn't make the list." He explained. Penny smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling him closer so he was standing in between her legs. His hands unconsciously found their way to her hips and his fingers lightly rested on her lower back.

"Just because it's not in there doesn't mean that I won't respect the fact that you are a huge germaphobe." Penny teased as she took an antibacterial wipe from the package and cleaned off her hands. She tossed it toward the garbage, not caring if it made it in or not.

"Leonard found our relationship rules. I had to tell him that we already entered into a relationship together." He confessed to her. Penny smiled up at him.

"I honestly don't care what he has to say. Only you and I are in this Sheldon." Penny replied. Sheldon looked worried.

"He insinuated that you were out of my league and that I didn't have a shot with you." He told her. Gently, she placed her hands at the back of his neck and pulled him into a kiss.

His lips were the first to move, they were soft and he was precise in his movements. Penny responded by gently sucking on his lower lip. Sheldon gripped at her hips and a small noise escaped his lips. Penny pulled away and looked into his face. His eyes fluttered open and he licked at his puffy bottom lip. Penny had the overwhelming urge to pull him onto the table and do unspeakable things to him, but she resisted.

"This is a public space, and that kiss was not chaste." Sheldon mumbled. Penny felt herself blush. He cleared his throat.

"You're already breaking rules, Penny." He told her with more confidence. Penny cocked her head slightly to the side.

"We could go to my apartment, it's a private space and we could not chastely kiss there." Penny offered with a suggestive raise of her eyebrow. To her surprise, Sheldon smiled. She started to get nervous butterflies in her stomach.

"The sign says 'do not leave laundry unattended'. I don't like to break rules." He said as he began running his fingertips over the waist band of her pink sweats, his thumbs brushed against the soft skin just below the fabric of her yellow t-shirt. Penny pulled him closer to her, leaving her hand on his chest and grazed her lips against his. His heart pounded against her palm like a frightened bunny caught in a trap.

"I do." She whispered against his lips. Without missing a beat, Sheldon was kissing her again. Penny breathed him in. His scent was intoxicating. He smelled crisp and clean, like lemons and laundry. As Penny parted her lips, Sheldon gently touched his tongue to hers. Penny couldn't help but grin into their kiss and allow him to explore her to his heart's content. She felt his hands slipping underneath her t-shirt. His fingertips were ice cold and they sent a shock through her body, causing her to gasp out loud. Goose bumps covered her skin and she could feel her nipples hardening in her bra. Penny ran her hands through his soft hair, gently massaging his scalp with her bright red nails. Sheldon let out another soft groan, before pulling away from their kiss. Penny searched his face, his expression was soft and his lips were kiss swollen. His eyes were wide and he was breathing hard.

"Penny, if we don't stop, we might do something we both regret." He breathed. He promptly removed his hand from underneath the back of her shirt and Penny nodded in agreement. Her head was swimming with arousal, she knew he was right. Sheldon swallowed hard and moved away from her. Penny watched as he ran his hand through his soft, brown, lemony hair. She could see his flight instincts starting to kick in. Penny decided to try to calm him down with conversation.

"So, I got an acting job today." She said trying to not sound too excited. Sheldon turned toward her and offered her a smile.

"It's really cool. I get to be a secret agent and, Oh! I get to work with William Shatner!" Penny excitedly carried on. Sheldon raised his eyebrows at her.

"You get to work with Captain James Tiberius Kirk?" Sheldon questioned. Penny enthusiastically nodded her head.

"Don't toy with me woman." Sheldon warned. Penny rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh my god, Sheldon, I'm not toying with you. Oh! And the best part is that I am going to make enough money that I will be able to buy a new car! And pay off my credit cards!" Penny said, not realizing she was beginning to wistfully ramble. The two continued to talk as they waited for their clothes to finish washing. To Penny's surprise, Sheldon didn't even complain about the banality of their chit chat. Penny would never admit it, but ever since they started doing this mundane chore together, she couldn't wait for laundry night. Now, she couldn't wait for next Saturday, she would have to remember to ask for laundry lessons. Maybe he could show her how to pre-sort her clothes in between make-out sessions.

**o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o. o**

**Alright friends, my giveaway has now been posted on my LJ. For those that are interested, check my profile for the link. I've decided that I'm going to close it on May 5th, ten days just seemed too long. All the details, including how to enter, are at my LJ. Thanks everyone! Oh, also, thanks austexfan, there totally should have been something about germs in his rules.  
**


	10. Chapter 10

**Favourites, follows, and reviews are not only welcomed, they are also greatly appreciated.  
**

**Enjoy friends!**

_"Oh God Leonard…" _Amy moaned; her voice traveled easily through the paper thin walls. Sheldon laid in his bed, trying to sleep. It had been half an hour since he put his laundry away and got ready for bed. After trying to block out the noise with ear plugs, drinking a warm glass of milk, and counting Cat Women, Sheldon decided that his efforts were futile. This was their third round of coitus since Amy arrived. Sheldon was beginning to think they were continuing out of spite.

_"Oh god, oh god, oh god…"_ Amy cried. Sheldon gritted his teeth together and inhaled deeply through his nostrils.

He sprang out of bed and smoothed out his pajamas. Sheldon stormed across the living room and out the front door. His outstretched hand collided with Penny's front door three times, after which he called out her name. After repeating his knocking two more times he waited for a moment. He held up his hand to start knocking again, but Penny answered the door instead.

"What?" She snapped. She looked like she was half asleep, she was already in her pajamas, which consisted of shorts and the same yellow t-shirt she had on earlier Her hair was wrapped up in a bun that sat on top of her head, a few pieces fell out of the bun onto her face. Sheldon couldn't help but let his eyes wander down her soft looking legs. When his gaze found its way back up her body he noticed she was standing with her arms crossed over her chest. Sheldon took a breath inward and began.

"I require your hospitality this evening Penny. Can I sleep here tonight? Leonard and Amy's raucous intercourse is keeping me up." He asked. Penny rubbed at her eyes.

"Fine, whatever. Come in." Penny hastily agreed, allowing Sheldon to take refuge in her apartment. Sheldon walked in and her living room was dark, the only light that was on was the bedside lamp in her bedroom. Penny began walking toward her bedroom and Sheldon followed. She pulled back the covers, took off her shorts, and got back into bed. He blushed at the sight of her black bikini style panties, he was thankful it was dark. Sheldon felt conflicted. Before, she would have taken the couch. Now he was unsure of the expectation, he couldn't help but silently curse her limitations on his rules.

"Sheldon get into the bed." Penny commanded. Sheldon took a step toward her before stopping abruptly.

"Penny, I don't share a bed with anyone." He replied. Penny sat up in her candy colored sheets and looked at him. He could tell that she was in no mood to argue.

"You have three options. You can get into the bed, you can sleep on the couch, or you can go home. I'm not giving up my bed tonight." Penny said as she laid back down in her bed. Sheldon thought about his options and got into the bed. Penny turned off the lamp as he settled in beside her. It was the weirdest feeling to have someone lay in the same bed as him. Penny quickly shifted around on the mattress and faced him while lying on her side.

"I'm sorry your roommate sucks." She sleepily mumbled. Sheldon glanced over at her, her eyes were closed and her expression was soft. Penny's eyelashes were dark against her soft cheekbone. Her lips were slightly pouted and her cheek was pressed against her pillow. Sheldon reached over and brushed a piece of blonde hair off of her forehead. Penny smiled and grasped his hand into hers.

"Good night Moon Pie." Penny groggily whispered.

"Good night Penny." He replied. Sheldon listened to Penny's breath deepen, and soon she was asleep. Her apartment was quiet. The fridge kicked in and the quiet hum coming from the kitchen soon lulled him to sleep.

It felt like seconds before Penny's alarm was going off. She was quick to stifle it and snuggle back into Sheldon's chest. Sheldon assessed the sleeping situation that seemed to have changed, it appeared that through the night, he managed to sleep on his side while holding Penny, who was also laying on her side. His hand was gently resting across her bare stomach, just above her black cotton panties and below her t-shirt that was pushed up under her breasts. Embarrassment filled the pit of his stomach when he realized his arousal was pressing into her backside. When he moved his hand to her hip, Penny stretched and rolled over to face him, pulling her hair out of her bun in the process, letting her hair fall around her shoulders.

"Good morning." She said, her green eyes lit up with mischief. Sheldon licked at his dry lips and swallowed.

Before he could return her greeting, Penny pressed her lips against his and rolled him onto his back. He felt himself strain against his pajama bottoms when she gently pushed up his shirts and placed her fingertips into the hair on his lower abdomen. After briefly thinking about the germs that she was forcing upon him, his mind moved to the sensation of her lightly scratching at his stomach. Sheldon instinctively put his hands into her hair and played with her messy strands.

Penny continued to push up his shirt and traced her fingernails along his lanky muscles. Their tongues gently ran along each other and Sheldon felt like he was fighting for breath. In that moment, he didn't care if he ever breathed again. Suddenly, she shifted her weight and climbed on top of him. Sheldon felt her weight hovering over his hardness. Penny pressed her knees into the mattress and pulled Sheldon toward her. She swiftly removed both his pajama shirt and the white shirt underneath, tossing them over her shoulder.

As she gently pushed him back onto the bed, she began exploring his skin with her lips. Sheldon laid on her bed, his head was spinning and he was unsure about how to proceed in this situation. He closed his eyes when her tongue flicked out against his nipple, he felt it harden instantly. His pulse jumped into his throat and he tried to swallow it away, but it persisted. His breath quickened when she kissed around his belly button and he groaned when she gently grazed her teeth against the hip bone she exposed. She firmly gripped at the waistband of his pajama bottoms, but before she could do anything, he placed his fingertips on the back of her hand.

"Penny…" He breathed. She looked up at him with a small smirk pulling at her lips.

"Shhhhh."She replied. Sheldon kept his eyes on hers as she tugged his bottoms down his thighs. His arousal throbbed against his abdomen. Sheldon was almost certain that his heart was going to explode inside his chest, he was sure he couldn't handle what was about to happen.

Penny's gaze left his, he watched as she traced a finger along his ridged member. His hips lifted into the air, silently begging her to continue. Penny obliged his silent request by gripping his shaft in her hand and licking at the glistening bead of pre-cum that sat atop his swollen head. Sheldon softly moaned when her tongue made contact with his most sensitive area. His eyebrows furrowed and his breath left his lungs heavily as he watched her wrap her lips around him.

His head fell back onto her pillows and his toes curled when she took him further past her soft lips. Sweat began to bead on his forehead and along his chest, he couldn't have stopped it even if he tried. His hips slightly bucked up, unintentionally driving himself further down Penny's warm wet mouth. Sheldon resisted the urge to bury his fingers into Penny's unkempt hair. Instead, he pressed the heels of his palms into his eyebrows and roughly ran his hands down his face.

"Don't stop." He quietly pleaded as Penny began rhythmically sucking on his hardness. Sheldon tried to stay in control by preforming calculus in his head, but that proved to be too difficult. He moved on to multiplication, but when he realized he didn't even know what six times eight was, he knew he was done for. He felt his lower abdomen tighten, he couldn't hold it anymore. His orgasm washed over him and he came, Penny quickly swallowed his offering. Sheldon stared at the ceiling, his vision filled with the same type of star bursts a person gets if they stand up too fast.

"Penny, that was.." He said, trailing off his sentence at the end. Penny smiled and quickly got up out of bed and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Sheldon laid breathlessly on Penny's bed trying to regain composure. Lifting his head up, he looked at the bathroom door. He let out a heavy breath and let his head fall back onto her bright blue pillow. His eyes fell closed and he swallowed hard. His mind was absolutely blank. When he realized that he was thinking about nothing, he sat up. He pulled his pants back up and glanced down at his bare chest. Sheldon swung his legs off of Penny's bed and he stood up.

Penny emerged from the bathroom in her t-shirt and black panties with her tooth brush hanging out of her mouth. She dug through her messy drawers and pulled out a matching blue bra and panty set, a tank top and a pair of jeans. She clutched her clothes in one hand and began working her toothbrush with the other.

"Penny?" Sheldon asked as she headed for the bathroom. She stopped and looked at him while still brushing her teeth.

"I don't know how to proceed." He stated. Penny held up her hand signaling for him to give her a second. She walked into the bathroom and rinsed out her mouth. When she returned, she walked up to him and she wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him into a hug. His hands hovered over her shoulders before he gently placed them on her shoulder blades.

"First you hug me. Then.." She said lifting herself onto her tiptoes and giving Sheldon an innocent kiss.

"You kiss me. Then, if you're so inclined you can complement my obvious skills." She said while pulling away from him. Sheldon nodded.

"You're more than welcome to anything in the fridge and you're more than welcome to join me in the shower." Penny offered. Sheldon suddenly felt like he was overstaying his welcome. He picked up his shirts from the foot of her bed.

"I appreciate the offer, but I should go." He said, declining her offer. Penny smiled and nodded. Sheldon put his shirts back on and walked toward her door. Penny followed. He turned around and looked her over once more before opening her door.

"Hey." Penny said quickly stopping him. He closed the door and stood with his hands clasped in front of him.

"If I made you feel uncomfortable, I'm sorry." She said apologizing. Sheldon didn't understand her sudden change in attitude.

"While I'll admit at first I was apprehensive, you never made me feel uncomfortable." Sheldon assured. Penny nodded.

"Even with all of the touching?" Penny asked. Sheldon smiled at her.

"Yes, even with all of the touching." He confirmed.

"Because, if I ever make you feel like you're doing something you don't want to do, you can stop me." Penny rambled. Sheldon searched her face. She seemed so uncertain, which was not like her at all. For all of the years he had known her, she never exhibited this level of uncertainty.

"Penny, if I don't want to do something, I won't and just because I haven't engaged in certain activities in the past doesn't mean I didn't have the desire to." He explained. Penny couldn't help but blush.

"Just because I've suppressed my biological urges in order to dedicate a fair portion of my life to science doesn't mean that I didn't ever want to act upon those urges. I'm a man, Penny. People seem to forget that." He said trying not to sound a little bit hurt. She nodded her head and he reached for the door handle.

"Have a pleasant day Penny." He said with a genuine smile. With that he left her apartment, closing the door behind him. Hopefully Leonard would still be asleep, he didn't want to have to explain anything to him. He opened the door to his apartment, only to be met with Amy and Leonard having coffee and tea at the kitchen island. Sheldon took in a deep breath and prayed for no questions.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hi friends,**

**Just a reminder, you still have a couple days to enter my giveaway, it closes on May 5. Thank you again for all of the favourites, follows, and reviews. All of your support is greatly appreciated. **

**Enjoy.**

Sheldon tried to ignore Leonard and Amy's steady gazes. He shifted uncomfortably in the spot where he stood. After a moment of silence, Sheldon took his eyes off of the floor and looked into the surprised looks of his roommate and ex-girlfriend. Leonard seemed to study him, which made Sheldon uneasy and Amy glanced between Leonard and Sheldon with her tea firmly grasped in her hands.

"Did you sleep in the hallway?" Leonard asked. Sheldon felt his face slightly twitch.

"No." He quietly replied.

"Were you at Penny's?" Leonard finally asked. The air felt heavy as it passed through Sheldon's respiratory system. It was almost as if he were breathing in a dense fog. Sheldon hated lying. He could bend the truth sometimes if the questions were vague, but unfortunately Leonard knew his weakness.

"I was." He confirmed.

"Did you stay the night over there?" Leonard continued his line of questioning. Sheldon rolled his eyes, why Leonard felt he was privy to such information, Sheldon will never know.

"Not that it's your business, but I did. If I weren't subjected to Amy's boisterous moaning last night, I wouldn't have felt that I had to find refuge elsewhere." Sheldon said with a raise of his eyebrows. Amy averted her gaze to the floor and tried to hide her deep blush behind her mug full of peppermint tea, but Sheldon noticed. He tried not to scowl at their unconcerned demeanor.

"If you'll excuse me, I'm going to occupy the bathroom." Sheldon said bluntly, trying to excuse himself from the uncomfortable situation he found himself in. As he began his "walk of shame", he was interrupted by Leonard.

"Sheldon, why are you doing this? Are you trying to make me jealous or get back at me or something?" He asked as he held Amy's hand in his. Sheldon wondered if Leonard had even taken his feelings into consideration when he started dating Amy. He brushed it off and folded his arms across his broad chest.

"I can assure you, Leonard, that I'm doing none of those things." Sheldon affirmed. Leonard stood there with an unsatisfied look plastered on his face.

"Perhaps it hadn't occurred to you, but maybe I'm pursuing feelings that I've been suppressing for nearly a decade and, despite how astronomical you think the odds are, maybe she is doing the same?" Sheldon finished. Amy cocked her head to the side and a grin broke out onto her lips.

"Awe." She cooed as she gripped Leonard's hand a little bit tighter. Leonard turned his attention toward Amy.

"No, not 'Awe', he's just doing this to be a jerk." Leonard told her. She frowned at him and then turned to Sheldon.

"I stand by my 'awe'. I'm happy for you Sheldon." Amy said in an almost mono tone voice. Sheldon couldn't help but smile when she said that.

"And you should be happy for him too, Leonard." Amy added. Leonard had a look of disbelief on his face.

"Sheldon is your friend, and to my understanding, friends are happy for friends who are happy." Amy chastised Leonard. Sheldon took a moment to digest her overly wordy sentence.

"Thank you Amy." Sheldon said. Leonard rolled his eyes and let go of her hand.

"Whatever." He said as he left Sheldon and Amy in the kitchen and walked off toward his bedroom. Sheldon let out a sigh of relief, he was glad to have Amy on his side. He was worried that she would be upset with him, but she seemed supportive.

"Sheldon, if you hurt her, I will hunt you down and suffice it to say, you will be harmed and you will not like it." She said with a quick cock of one eyebrow and a raise of her tea mug. Sheldon nodded.

"Noted." He simply said. He watched her as she walked off to Leonard's bedroom with her mug of tea in hand. He stood alone with his thoughts. His thoughts quickly shifted to Penny and the unspeakable acts she performed on him this morning.

As he walked toward the bathroom, he thought about how he wanted to protest to her actions so badly, but couldn't even form a coherent sentence. When it came to Penny's chaos, he couldn't form a logical argument against it. Even if he could, he didn't want to. Being with Penny in this way, made a very different side of him come to the surface; it was terrifying, it was exciting. It was a feeling that he couldn't shake, nor did he want to. He shook his head at the next thought that popped into his head. Sheldon Cooper didn't fall in love. Did he?

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Cut!" The director shouted.

Penny's stomach was balled up into nervous knots. She clutched a linen napkin and a sharpie in her hand and she waited a moment for the crew to clear before walking onto the set. He sat in a chair with a woman at his side, she was fixing his stage makeup. Penny cautiously approached him. When she got close she cleared her throat, causing him to look up into her direction.

"Mr. Shatner?" Penny asked in a quiet voice. He looked at her for a moment before shooing the makeup lady away. She licked her dry lips and continued.

"Hi, I'm Penny. I'm playing the part of your secret agent daughter." She quickly said, she didn't want to sound like some kind of crazy fangirl. He smiled.

"Penny, it's nice to meet you." He said, his voice was deep and rich. Penny nodded.

"It's nice to meet you too. Look, this is going to sound stupid, but my boyfriend is a huge fan. He's super into Star Trek, and he would just be ecstatic if he got your autograph." Penny explained. He quickly nodded as he pulled out a marker from his inside jacket pocket and grabbed a piece of paper from the makeup table. Penny stopped him.

"Sorry, this is going to sound weird, but can you sign this napkin instead?" She asked thrusting the napkin toward him.

"What's your boyfriend's name?" He asked, taking the napkin from her.

"It's Sheldon." She replied. William Shatner quickly scribbled a note on the napkin along with Sheldon's name and his signature. He handed the napkin back to Penny and she thanked him. After she stuffed the napkin into her purse, she was called into makeup and wardrobe. She should have been excited to shoot the commercial, but she was more excited to see the look on Sheldon's face when she gave him the napkin signed by Captain Kirk.

After the day was done, and Penny's commercial was successfully shot, she went home. She set her purse on the coffee table and began rummaging around in her bedroom closet for wrapping paper that didn't have reindeer on it. Before she had the chance to decide that her search effort was useless, she was interrupted by a quiet knock on her front door. She got out of her closet and opened the door. Amy stood before her, only this time she was wearing her regular attire consisting of multiple layers under a cardigan and a navy corduroy knee-length skirt, instead of wearing Leonard's t-shirt and a pair of underwear.

"Hi." She quickly greeted. Penny offered her a smile. She didn't want to admit it, but she missed her friend.

"Hi Amy." Penny replied.

"I know about your relationship with Sheldon." Amy told her. Penny's heart sunk. She looked at Amy's shoes.

"Oh." Penny guiltily said. She was certain that this friendship was past the point of repair.

"Can I come in?" Amy inquired. Penny nodded and moved out of the way. Amy promptly sat on the couch and Penny was quick to follow. She wanted to avoid her gaze, but couldn't. Amy's blue eyes were soft and kind.

"I'm not mad." Amy said. Penny felt relieved. Amy smiled at Penny.

"You're not?" Penny asked. Amy shook her head.

"No, however, I am a little bit hurt that you didn't tell me." Amy confessed. Penny felt her stomach briefly twinge with guilt.

"Sorry." Penny sheepishly apologized.

"Besides," Amy continued. "How could I be upset with something that was inevitable?" Amy asked. Penny smirked.

"Inevitable?" Penny asked, she couldn't help but sound bemused. Amy cocked her head to the side.

"Please, you'd have to be blind to not see the chemistry that you and Sheldon have together." Amy reasoned. Penny blushed.

"So you and Leonard are okay with the idea of me and Sheldon dating?" Penny asked again, she had to be sure.

"I have accepted the premise, however Leonard is having a hard time coming to terms with it." Amy told her. Penny rolled her eyes. Of course he was.

"I'm sorry Amy. You shouldn't have to deal with that." Penny said slightly annoyed. Amy nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry, I'll have his behavior altered within a week using positive reinforcement providing sex as a reward." Amy said trying to assure Penny that Leonard would eventually come around. Penny smirked. There was a moment of silence between Amy and Penny before Amy spoke up.

"I really want us to be friends again." She said, trying not to sound sad. Penny smiled at Amy and pulled her into a hug. Penny tried to not be weirded out when Amy breathed in her green apple scented tresses.

"We're friends again." Penny said pulling away from their hug. Amy grinned. She quickly glanced at her watch.

"Penny I have to go, I left Ricky alone in my apartment and it's more than likely a disaster zone, but the heart wants what the heart wants." She said as she got up off the couch and headed for the door.

"Bye Bestie!" Amy chimed as she opened the door.

"By Ames!" Penny called out after her. The door clicked shut and she was gone. Penny was thankful to have her friend back. She inhaled and exhaled a deep breath, her thoughts turned to her wrapping paper dilemma. Maybe she could use a comic book that she forgot to send to her nephew. Sheldon would probably think it was sacrilegious. Penny frowned, maybe she could find some super hero wrapping paper for her overgrown six year old boyfriend.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi friends,**

**I just wanted to quickly thank everyone who participated in my giveaway. The winners were chosen and the prizes were awarded. Who knows, maybe I'll host another one someday. On a separate note, I'm starting my first summer semester this week, so I will be back to posting on a weekly basis. I appreciate all the follows, favourites, and reviews, and as always,**

**Enjoy!**

Monday night was Thai food night. Sheldon sat in his spot on the couch with his take out in his lap. Penny sat in her spot beside Sheldon, Amy sat in the white arm chair and Leonard sat beside her in the wooden chair. Sheldon was thankful that Penny was being respectful of his space as Leonard was insistent on keeping tabs on the two of them. Amy was chattering on about how she replaced Ricky's smoking addiction with a gambling addiction and Penny was pretending to understand Amy. Suddenly, the house phone rang in its cradle. Sheldon was quick to pick up the phone, silently thanking a god he did not believe in for the distraction.

"Hello?" He answered as he placed his take out on the table.

_"Shelly, why didn't you call to tell me you were datin' the neighbor girl?"_ Mary Cooper said on the other end of the line. Sheldon's eyes snapped up, catching Leonard's gaze. He was trying to hide his smirk, but when Sheldon clutched the phone to his chest, Leonard's smirk turned into a wide grin.

"You called my mother?!" Sheldon harshly whispered.

"No…" Leonard said, clearly denying the crime he was guilty of. Sheldon frowned and held the phone back up to his ear.

"Mom, I was going to call." He started. Mary quickly cut him off.

_"Woulda, coulda, shoulda, Shelly."_ Mary chastised. He looked around the room and noticed everyone staring. He quickly got up and moved his telephone conversation with his mother to the kitchen.

"Mom, now's not a good time." He said looking back at the people in the living room.

_"Baby, I know you're busy, but these kinds of things are important." _She told him. Sheldon felt a little bit guilty. He didn't even think about telling his mother about his courtship with Penny.

"I know." He said, letting the guilt seep into the slight accent that slipped out.

_"Your Mee Maw's birthday is next week. She would sure like to see you." _Mary reminded him. Of course he would never forget when his Mee Maw's birthday was, so why was she reminding him?

_"I want you to come home to celebrate with us. I would also like you to bring your new girlfriend with you."_ Mary said. Sheldon looked at Penny and smiled.

"Okay mom." Sheldon replied. He knew there was no way to get out of it. Mary Cooper was a strong willed woman and she would be the one to come to California to make sure he and Penny went to Texas to celebrate his grandmother's 80th birthday.

_"I love you Shelly. I'll talk to you soon." _Mary said. Sheldon said goodbye to his mother and hung up the phone. He walked back into the living room and gently placed it on the cradle. He sat back down, picking up his food, and placing it in his lap. He glanced at Leonard who seemed to be pleased with himself. Sheldon thought about all of the havoc he could stir up if he made a phone call to Leonard's mother, but he decided to take the high road and push the thoughts out of his head.

"My mother wants me to go to Texas next week for my Mee Maw's birthday." Sheldon stated. Penny gently patted his knee.

"That sounds like fun, Sweetie. I'm sure you'll have a good time." She said while stuffing a forkful of Pad Thai in her mouth.

"You're coming too." Sheldon bluntly stated. Penny almost choked on her food.

"What?!" She sputtered. She swallowed the food in her mouth and continued.

"I can't, I have to work. Besides I don't really have any extra cash to get there. Oh, and I've already met your mother, so it's all good." She said, making as many excuses as she could think of.

"Penny, Penny, Penny." He started.

"I don't think you quite understand, my mother has requested your presence because Leonard told her that we're dating. She wants to get to know you as my girlfriend instead of the neighbor girl." He explained.

"Sheldon, I have to work. I can't not go, I'll have to get someone to cover my shifts and-" She protested.

"I'll make arrangements with your work." He retorted. Penny sighed.

"Fine. I'll go with you." She said, giving in. Sheldon gave her a confused look.

"I know." He said in a slightly condescending tone. Penny narrowed her eyes at him and quickly planted a kiss on his lips. It was brief, chaste, and innocent, but the way Leonard glared at him made Sheldon feel like it was anything but. Sheldon looked at Leonard and smirked. He put down his food and placed his hand on Penny's cheek, pulling her in for another kiss. His lips lingered on hers for a few seconds longer than they should have. Despite his rule against an overabundance of PDA, the look on Leonard's face was worth breaking his own rule. It was almost as satisfying as paying Howard back by getting naked in his new car.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Sheldon, I don't want to go through the stupid itinerary _again_" Penny complained. It was the day before they were supposed to leave for Texas and after spending most of the evening convincing him to travel by plane, Penny felt exhausted. Sheldon stood in his living room with his arms folded across his chest with his itinerary in hand. Penny sunk into the couch and propped her feet on the coffee table. Sheldon quickly sat on the couch in his spot and placed his papers on the table.

"I just want you to be prepared for the quiz and safety drills tomorrow." Sheldon said, trying to reassure her. Penny sighed.

"Oh my God, do we really have to do a quiz and a safety drill?" Penny whined.

"_Drills_." Sheldon corrected, emphasizing the "s". Penny pinched the bridge of her nose to alleviate her oncoming migraine.

"Sheldon, Honey, I can appreciate your need for a schedule, but do we seriously need to plan everything to the minute?" She asked. Sheldon folded his hands in his lap and gave her a condescending look.

"Alan Lakein once said that 'failure to plan is planning to fail'." Sheldon replied. Penny rolled her eyes and sat up straighter on the couch.

"First off, I don't know who that is. Second, where's the spontaneity in planning every last detail? Where's your sense of adventure?" She challenged.

"Penny, impulsiveness usually results in undesirable consequences." He began. Penny wasn't interested in being lectured, so she leaned in, cutting him off, and gently kissed him. He slightly stiffened when her lips touched his, but soon, he was sinking into the kiss. Penny ran her fingers through his soft hair as he delicately cupped her cheek in his hand. The tip of his tongue touched hers, and Penny felt a shiver run down her spine. Her fingers smoothly ran down the back of his neck, and she draped one of her hands on his shoulder, while cradling the back of his head with other. He leaned further into their kiss, and Penny teased him by backing off a bit. Sheldon let his hands venture into her hair, coaxing her back into their deep kiss. Penny pulled away from his lips and smiled at him.

"Sometimes surprises can be nice, or they can be romantic, or I don't know, _fun_." She said as she sat back on the couch. She looked over at him, and his kiss swollen lips were pursed together.

"I can be fun and romantic." Sheldon protested. Penny smirked at him.

"I'm not saying that you can't be, but romance isn't like theoretical physics. It's made up of feelings and emotions, not math and formulas." Penny replied with a soft pat on his thigh. Sheldon looked at his itinerary and back to Penny.

"I'm going to go, we've had a long day and I have to be up at 6:05 am in order to be ready by 7:46 am." Penny said with a wink.

"Plus, I don't want to miss the quiz or the drills." She said as she got up, she tried to sound sincere but she was sure he would assume she was being sarcastic.

Sheldon walked her to his door and before she could leave, he leaned down and kissed her. Penny raised herself up on her tiptoes and Sheldon steadied her by placing his hands on her hips. She breathed in his clean scent and wished she didn't have to go home. He ended their kiss, but Penny wanted more. She firmly planted her heels on the floor and gazed into his bright blue eyes.

"Do you want to come over?" Penny asked. She silently cursed the feelings deep down in the pit of her stomach that she had no control over. Sheldon quickly shook his head.

"I shouldn't, we have a strict schedule to keep tomorrow and I feel like that might compromise it." He answered. Penny nodded her head.

"See you tomorrow." She said.

"Good night Penny." He replied. Penny walked into her apartment and closed the door behind her. She raced into her bedroom and dug around her closet for her "battery operated chew toy" as Sheldon once so eloquently called it. She had to get rid of the tension that was building inside of her, but all she could think about was meeting his family. She could handle it couldn't she? Suddenly, she felt anxious. She took in a deep breath, turned out the lights, and took her toy to bed. Tomorrow was going to be an extremely drawn-out day.


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, okay. I know I said once a week, but how could I resist not posting this fluffy chapter? Maybe we'll call it "at least" once a week.**

**Enjoy friends!**

The plane ride was long, and Sheldon was exhausted. Not only did their early morning flight get cancelled, but their rescheduled flight was delayed. He hated the anxiety flying gave him, and he despised the feeling of jet lag, but Sheldon found that it was hard to say no to her pouty face when she insisted they fly. He collected their luggage from the metal baggage carousel and searched for his sister who was picking them up. Since they were both so tall, they spotted each other right away.

Sheldon grasped Penny's hand into his as he weaved through the crowd, careful not to rub up against strangers. As they approached his sister, his eyes first focused on her stomach, then he noticed the man whose hand she was holding. Missy was pregnant, and by Sheldon's estimate, she was most likely still in her first trimester. Penny radiated to Missy and they embraced in a hug. After Penny pulled away and returned to Sheldon's side, Missy gave her brother an expectant look.

"No hugs for your sister?" She asked extending her arms toward him. She gave him the same pouty look that Penny used to coax him onto an aircraft, but instead of being endearing, it was annoying. He rolled his eyes at her and hugged her. After he pulled away from his sister's hug, he stared at the man she was with.

He was tall, rugged, and to societies standards, quite handsome. He wore a dark brown Stetson cowboy hat, a white t-shirt, and denim jeans adorned with a large steel belt buckle. Sheldon noticed that he was slightly taller than his sister's boyfriend, only by an inch or two.

"This is my brother Sheldon and his girlfriend, Penny." Missy said. The man stuck out his hand for Sheldon to shake, and Sheldon just stared.

"Name's Carson." He said, Sheldon looked down at his extended hand and looked up to Missy who gave him a look that he was very familiar with. It was a look that said "Sheldon, I will hurt you." He gave in to his sister's look and shook Carson's hand. After letting go, Sheldon was quick to fish out his hand sanitizer from his pocket and squirt a generous amount into his palm. They quickly left the airport and got into Missy's car. Carson sat in the passenger seat and Penny and Sheldon sat in the back. It was silent for about half an hour until Sheldon broke the silence in the car.

"So you're gestating." Sheldon said stating the obvious. Missy looked at him and shook her head.

"Why do you gotta talk like that Shelly? I'm pregnant. You make it sound like some kind of science experiment." She chastised. Sheldon looked over at Penny, silently begging her to take over the conversation.

"That's exciting Missy, how far along are you?" Penny asked from behind Carson's seat. Missy looked at Penny through the rear view mirror. Sheldon couldn't help but stare at the tattoo that covered Carson's large bicep.

"I'm fourteen weeks." Missy replied. Sheldon scolded himself for estimating wrong in the airport, but he only had a general knowledge about human pregnancies.

"Wait, our birthday was approximately fourteen weeks ago." Sheldon noted. Missy nodded.

"Yep, this is the kind of trouble a girl can get into if she goes out for drinks on her birthday." Missy replied with a small laugh. Carson placed his hand on her thigh and gently squeezed. Carson turned around in his seat and continued to chat. Sheldon loathed banal chit chat.

"So Missy tells me you're a rocket scientist. That's a pretty cool." He said. Sheldon rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth to give a long drawn-out correction, but was quickly cut off.

"Actually, he's a theoretical physicist." Penny chimed in. Surprised, Sheldon looked over at her and she smiled back at him.

"What's the difference?" Carson asked. Sheldon tried to enlighten Carson, but Penny piped up before he could.

"Well, first, saying 'rocket scientist' is wrong. It's actually aerospace engineer. Secondly, Sheldon doesn't work on rockets, he proposes theories about the way the universe works." Penny replied, cutting off Sheldon's response once more. He was taken aback, he couldn't believe she actually knew what he did for a living.

"So are you a physicist too?" Carson asked he too was impressed by Penny's ability to understand the difference between the two professions.

"No, I'm an actress… and a waitress." She replied. Carson had a look of bewilderment on his face, he nodded and turned back around in his seat. She looked over at Sheldon and grinned. He quickly took the hand she offered to him, and they quietly held hands in the back seat.

The rest of the drive was uneventful, Sheldon watched the familiar Texas scenery passed by as the sun approached the horizon. He couldn't wait to get settled in for the night and develop a schedule for the weekend. Normally, he would have an itinerary planned, but since this trip was revolving around plans that other people had made, he would have to develop it once he obtained more information.

They were going to be staying at his Mee Maw's farm, as his mother's house only had one extra room and there was no way that Sheldon and Penny were going to be sharing a room under his mother's roof. After about another half hour of driving, they were pulling into his Mee Maw's drive way. Sheldon felt an excitement in the pit of his stomach that he always got when he visited his grandmother. He loved her dearly, and was not at all ashamed of it. They pulled up to the house and Penny got out of the car. Carson got out too, walking to the trunk to help Penny with their bags. Missy grabbed Sheldon's forearm and gave him a stern look.

"Shelly, I hope you're not judgin' me. I wanted to be the one to tell you. Face to face." She quietly said. Sheldon studied her expression. She looked worried. They had a similar conversation a long time ago when they were teenagers and Sheldon found out that she lost her virginity at prom.

"Of course not. Missy, we're adults and I know that this isn't a decision that one makes lightheartedly. I can only hope that your progeny receives the same DNA strand that I received, instead of the mediocre stock you received." Sheldon offhandedly commented. Missy narrowed her eyes at Sheldon who got the hint and promptly got out of the car.

Missy told them that they would come by tomorrow for dinner, leaving them to visit with Mee Maw. He gripped Penny's hand in his and took a deep breath as he walked with her into his grandmother's house. The smell of cinnamon and lavender flowers washed over him and he loved it. Sheldon took off his shoes, motioning for Penny to do the same. The kitchen was to the right, and he could see his Mee Maw pulling a fresh batch of cinnamon buns out of the oven. He walked into the kitchen, just as his Mee Maw was taking off her apron.

"Oh Moon Pie! I'm so happy to see you." She said walking up to him and embracing him in a hug. Sheldon did not hesitate and hugged her back. He pulled away and she placed her hands on his cheeks. Sheldon looked back at Penny, he grabbed her hand and she stood by his side.

"Mee Maw, this is Penny." He said. Sheldon's grandmother was quick to embrace Penny in a hug. Sheldon felt quite comfortable letting Penny hug his Mee Maw. He imagined that if Amy were here as his girlfriend instead, he would have been more protective and possessive, but with Penny it was easy to welcome her into his family. His grandmother started asking her questions and soon they were chatting up a storm.

Sheldon felt comfortable enough to leave the two of them alone. He brought their suitcases upstairs and set them in the spare rooms. Sheldon unpacked their things and prepared their separate rooms. He smiled to himself as he sat on the bed in the room he would be staying in. Never did he think he would bring a girlfriend home to meet his family. Never in a million years did he think that girl would be Penny. Sheldon let out a sigh and swiftly got up off the bed, returning downstairs to spend time with Penny and Mee Maw. He entered the living room and the girls were sharing a laugh.

"Oh my God, Sheldon, you were such a cute baby!" Penny cooed as his grandmother flipped the page of photo album she had in her lap. Sheldon couldn't help but blush as he took a seat in the armchair adjacent to the couch, which Penny and Mee Maw shared.

"This is my Moon Pie at his first grade science fair. All of the other kids were growing Lima beans, but not my Moon Pie." Mee Maw said as she looked up at him. Her smile was wide and her blue eyes sparkled.

"Tell her what you did." She said. Sheldon felt embarrassed. Usually, when his grandmother fawned over his achievements, it was to her knitting club, and he usually wasn't in attendance when she did so. Sheldon swallowed and rubbed his moist palms on his pants.

"My project was titled 'Using the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Satellite to Measure the Motion of a Coronal Mass Ejection'. It was a project designed to measure the speed of solar wind bursts and magnetic fields above the solar corona." Sheldon spouted off. Penny's stare was blank.

"Coronal Mass Ejection is the northern lights." Sheldon simplified. Penny quickly nodded her head and returned to looking at the photo album. Sheldon's grandmother got up off the couch and gave Penny a kiss on the top of her head.

"I hate to ruin the fun, but it's past my bed time." Mee Maw said as she kissed Sheldon's forehead. She walked toward her bedroom on the main floor, but before she left, she turned around.

"I'm so happy that you both are here. Sheldon, I'm so proud of you." She beamed with a smile.

"Good night." Sheldon and Penny said in unison. Mee Maw only smiled wider. Sheldon watched her disappear down the hallway to her bedroom. He got up off the chair and sat down on the couch next to Penny. He looked down at the photo album in her lap and quickly grasped her hand in his.

"Your grandmother is so sweet." Penny told him. Sheldon rubbed his thumb along the back of her hand.

"I know." He said. Penny leaned her head against his shoulder while continuing to flip through the pictures. Normally, he wouldn't have liked to share this much with another person, but Penny had a way with comforting him. He felt like when she was around, everything was going to be okay. Sheldon sat with her on his grandmother's couch until they had gone through two more albums, while silently cursing the oxytocin that was making him feel like he had tripped and fallen face first into love.


	14. Chapter 14

**You guys are awesome. Thank you so much for being fantastic!  
**

**Enjoy!**

Penny woke up with a start. She sat up in bed and took in the unfamiliar surroundings. The window was open and she could hear the cicadas buzzing outside. Her tongue darted out to moisten her dry lips and she rubbed at her eyes. She picked up her phone from the nightstand, checking the time. It was 2:12 am. Penny got up out of her bed and tossed on her robe and slippers. The bottoms of her slippers barely made contact with the floor beneath them before she was taking another step. The house was still and quiet. Penny felt like she had to hold her breath or she'd wake up everyone in Texas. As she opened up Sheldon's bedroom door, he was awoken by a loud creak. He sat up in bed, frantically looking around the room. Penny stood in the doorway and watched as he checked the time on his phone.

"Penny?" He sleepily asked as he set his phone back down on the nightstand. She took his question as an invitation to enter. Penny sat on the edge of his bed as he let out a yawn. Penny noticed that the only shirt he was wearing was a white undershirt. Her gaze traveled along his lean bicep and settled on his soft face.

"Penny, what are you doing up?" He asked. She shrugged.

"The crickets are too noisy. I can't sleep." She told him, not willing to admit she woke up from a nightmare. Sheldon shifted under the sheets and pushed them off his legs so he could sit up. His pajama bottoms were slightly twisted around his lanky frame.

"They're not crickets, they're cicadas." He corrected. The two sat in silence for a moment before Sheldon swung his legs off the bed and stood up. He put on his slippers and held his hand out to her.

"Come with me." He quietly said. She reluctantly took his hand, she wished that he would just invite her into his bed instead of escorting her back down the hall. Penny stood and Sheldon led her out into the hallway, but instead of heading for her bedroom, she was following him down the staircase. Penny stepped on a creaky floor board that Sheldon stepped over, he quickly spun around and put his finger to his lips.

"Shhhh." He softly whispered. Penny couldn't help blushing.

She continued to follow him, he picked up a flannel blanket, an oil lantern, and a pack of matches from the closet by the front door. They continued on their way out the door, down a path, and toward a large, red barn. The moon was full and the trail was well lit. Penny walked behind Sheldon, who seemed like he had done this a million times before. He opened the big, red barn door and led Penny inside.

"Here." He simply told her as he placed the blanket into her arms. Sheldon struck a match against it's box and it burst into life. He was quick to light the oil lantern and blow out the flame that burned the wooden match. Penny looked around the barn, it seemed to be quite old. Sheldon walked toward a ladder and motioned for Penny to climb it. Her heart was beating quickly underneath her ribs, she could practically feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins. His blue eyes sparkled under the light of the lantern. Penny felt the heat return to her cheeks, this seemed so unlike the Sheldon Cooper she knew.

After passing him the flannel blanket, climbing up the ladder, and taking the stuff that Sheldon passed up to her, she looked around the hayloft. The moonlight filled the room through a wide hole in the ceiling. Sheldon took the lantern from her and held her hand in his. Silently, he led her underneath the hole in the roof. He set down the lantern and laid out the blanket.

Penny watched as Sheldon laid down on the blanket, placing his hands behind his head. He looked over at her, gently patted the spot on the blanket next to him and returned his hand to rest under his head. Penny laid down next to him and looked up at the sky through the hole in the roof. It was amazing, the night sky was filled with stars and they shone so brightly. Penny rested her hand on her chest to steady the hammering of her heart.

"When I was young, I loved staying at Mee Maw's because I could sneak out and come up here." Sheldon told her, his voice was deeper and a little bit rougher. Penny turned her head toward him. The light from the lantern flickered, causing his eyes to sparkle again. He continued to stare up at the star filled sky and continued talking.

"Sometimes it makes a person feel so infinitesimal." He said, his voice trailing off. She watched his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed.

"What does that mean?" Penny asked, her voice sounded small, as if she was thousands of miles away. Sheldon propped himself upon his elbow, turned toward her and studied her for a moment. Her eyes met his and his gaze seemed to peer into her soul.

"It means that in an infinite universe with infinite possibilities, sometimes I feel exceedingly small." Sheldon told her. Penny flicked her eyes back up to the sky.

"Oh." She replied. Sheldon continued to stare at her. Penny felt her stomach tighten, she felt nervous. She met his gaze again and blushed. He reached out and brushed her soft hair off her forehead.

"I don't feel like that when I'm with you." He told her. Penny held her breath.

"Like what?" She quietly asked. Sheldon's lips quirked up into a smile for a split second.

"Like I'm lost in an infinite universe." He replied. Sheldon leaned in and softly kissed her lips. Penny's stomach fluttered with butterflies. He pulled away from their chaste kiss and licked at his bottom lip.

"Penny, I don't know how to tell you how I feel and if I were to even attempt to put it into words for you, it just wouldn't be enough. I don't want what I feel for you to lose it's meaning by uttering overused words." He confessed. She felt like her heart might explode.

Penny grasped his hand into hers and gently pulled him on top of her. Sheldon brought his lips back down to hers and kissed her. He settled in between her thighs and pressed his palms into the blanket on each side of her head. She touched her tongue to his bottom lip and he kissed her harder. Sheldon pulled back and stared into Penny's hungry green eyes. He was breathing heavily, shakily exhaling before deeply inhaling again. He brought his lips back down to her and after brushing her hair away, he placed them on her neck.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" He whispered into her ear before placing his lips on her earlobe. Penny shuddered.

"What? What are you-" She whispered while closing her eyes. His teeth grazed along her sensitive earlobe as he briefly pulled away.

"Shh, I'm trying to be romantic and spontaneous." He whispered. He gently placed a kiss on her neck, just under her ear and continued.

"Thou art more lovely and more temperate." He breathed against her neck. Penny let out a shaky breath.

"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May." He articulated as he slowly moved his delicate kisses toward her collarbone. Penny gently placed her hands on his shoulder blades. His hand gently pushed the shoulder of her robe and her tank top aside as he peppered soft kisses along her collarbone toward her shoulder.

"And summer's lease hath all too short a date." He whispered against her skin. His lips grazed her flesh, causing goose bumps to rise to the surface. Sheldon roughly grasped the top of her tank top and pulled it down, but before he exposed her, he used the heel of his palm to push up her breast. His tongue darted out against the top of her full breast and Penny gasped.

"Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines." Sheldon recited, he pulled down her tank top, exposing her to him. Penny pressed the back of her head into the floor, a shiver ran down her spine. She was pretty sure he was reciting Shakespeare to her. His lips hovered over her nipple, his shaky breath was hot. Penny couldn't help but arch her back, but he moved with her, denying her the touch she craved.

"And often, his gold complexion dimmed." He breathed against her skin. Penny felt her head swimming. He took her into his mouth and Penny let out a soft moan. Sheldon's hand untied her robe and pushed it open. He covered her exposed skin with her tank top and moved down her body, gently pushing up her shirt so that it sat just under her breasts. Penny was pretty sure she was going to hyperventilate, so she took in a deep breath, just as his lips made contact with her ribs. She looked down at him and he met her gaze with his. He quirked up his eyebrow suggestively causing her to unconsciously bite at her bottom lip.

"And every fair from fair sometime declines, by chance or nature's changing course untrimmed." Sheldon said as his lips pressed against Penny's abdomen. She swallowed, placing her head back down on the blanket.

"Oh God, Sheldon." Penny said. She felt dizzy.

"Shhhhh." He quickly chastised. Penny licked her lips and stared up into the star filled sky.

_"_But thy eternal summer shall not fade, nor lose possession of that fair thou owest." Sheldon's fingertips slid into the waistband of Penny's shorts. Sheldon began to gently tug on them, Penny lifted her hips and he pulled them down her thighs. Penny could feel how wet she was against the cool night air. Sheldon gently grazed her hipbone with his teeth, Penny couldn't take it much longer. She didn't want to have to beg.

"Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade, when in eternal ties to time thou growest." His words were soft spoken as he ran his fingertips across her wetness, Penny swallowed hard. He gently plunged a finger inside of her, causing her to gasp. She looked down at him and he smirked. He brought his face down to her wetness, Penny was breathing fast and shallow.

"So long as men can breath or eyes can see, so long lives this and this gives life to thee." Sheldon finished. His tongue pressed against her and Penny moaned. Sheldon buried himself deeper into her arousal, his tongue swirled around her clit. Penny whimpered as his fingers thrust into her. Her hips bucked up and her back arched. Penny couldn't take it, the anticipation was almost too much. Her orgasm rushed over her in waves of relentless pleasure. She cried out as he plunged his fingers into her one last time.

Penny laid still on the blanket breathing heavily as her body buzzed with excitement. Sheldon wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand and let out a deep breath. He sat on his knees and looked down at Penny. Penny lazily looked up at him, she couldn't help but grin.

"Did you just seduce me Shakespearean style?" She mumbled, clearly confused. After propping herself up on her elbows, she tugged her shorts back up around her waist.

"I suppose I did." He confessed. Penny sat up and tied her hair up with a hair elastic that she wore on her wrist.

"Was it too much?" He asked. Penny could see he was second guessing himself.

"Sheldon, Sweetie. It was amazing." Penny reassured. Sheldon couldn't help but smile. He laid back down with Penny and he held her hand.

The two of them laid on the blanket, hand in hand, for another ten minutes in a comfortable silence. They both decided that they should go back in and try to get some sleep. Sheldon walked her to her bedroom and placed a chaste kiss on her lips before bidding her goodnight. Penny got back into bed and listened as he walked into the bathroom located between their bedrooms and began brushing his teeth.

Penny sighed as she thought about their middle of the night romp in the hayloft. She couldn't believe the words that fell from his lips just prior to him seducing her with a sonnet. She knew that even though he didn't say it, he was in love with her. A huge grin snuck onto her face, she knew that she was in love with him too. She'd known it for a while, but kept pushing her feelings down, and it didn't take long before they crept back up. Her stomach twisted up into knots when she thought about his lips on her most intimate area. It was easy for her to fall back asleep, the cicadas that were once a nuisance, were now just white noise.

**o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o**

**Just in case you were wondering, that was Sonnet 18. ;)  
**


	15. Chapter 15

**So sorry for the lateness of this update. **

**Enjoy!**

Soft morning light poured through the sheer curtains, into Penny's bedroom. She sat up in her bed at Sheldon's Mee Maw's house and stretched her arms high into the air while letting out an over exaggerated yawn. Penny picked up her phone to check the time. It was 7:30 am. The shower was running in the bathroom next door to her. She sighed, got out of bed and slipped her robe over her tank top and shorts. As she smoothed down her wild hair, she walked out into the hall.

She walked past the bathroom, and couldn't help but stop in front of the door. Penny felt tempted to sneak into the bathroom and try to convince Sheldon to conserve some water by sharing a shower, but the smell of bacon willed her downstairs. Penny walked into the kitchen to see Mee Maw at the large kitchen table reading a magazine called The Doily Grind, Penny could only assume it was about knitting or crochet. Mee Maw looked up from her magazine and smiled wide.

"Oh Penny! Good morning! Shelly said you wouldn't be up before eleven." She cheerfully greeted as Penny sat across from her at the table. Penny smiled through the frown that threatened to invade her face. Of course Sheldon would assume her "no knocking before eleven" rule would apply in Texas. Mee Maw set her magazine down, quickly standing up and rushing toward the stove.

"Can I get you something to eat, Sweet Pea?" Mee Maw asked. In that moment, Penny felt overwhelmed. Sheldon's grandmother reminded Penny of her Nana before she passed away. Penny's grandmother used to call her Sweet Pea, and she hadn't heard anyone call her that in a very long time. She blinked back the tears that welled up in her eyes and quickly nodded.

"Yes, please." Penny quietly replied. Mee Maw filled up Penny's plate with some bacon, scrambled eggs, and a slice of buttered toast. Penny smiled at Mee Maw as she set down a cup of milky coffee alongside her breakfast.

"Shelly told me how you like your coffee. It's decaf, I hope that's okay." Mee Maw said as she sat down across the table from Penny.

"Don't be silly, of course it's okay." Penny said, reassuring Mee Maw. Penny started to eat, and couldn't help but smile at Mee Maw who was beaming at her. Penny let out a nervous laugh and set down her fork to wipe at her face.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Penny asked as she wiped the corners of her lips. Mee Maw shook her head.

"I'm just happy you're here, that's all. It's nice to meet the girl my Moon Pie has been talking about all these years." She said. Penny choked on her toast.

"Years?" She clarified. Mee Maw smiled and nodded.

"He's been talking about you since the day you two met. Every month he writes me a letter, and he always ends up talking about you, one way or another." She explained. Penny blushed. She found the letters, but they were older. She had never read anything about her in the ones she looked at.

"What does he tell you?" She asked. Penny sipped on her coffee and listened.

"Well, he's told me about how the two of you press each others buttons, he told me about the acting lesson's you gave him to help him be a better teacher, and he told me that he tried to teach you physics, but it ended with you crying." She began.

"Yeah, but physics is hard." Penny interjected. Mee Maw offered an all knowing nod.

"He told me that you sing him Soft Kitty when he's sick." Mee Maw softly continued. Penny looked away, she tried to hide her embarassment.

"Penny, that grandson of mine, he's very much his own person, but you seem to bring out the best in him. You're good for him, Dear." Mee Maw told her. Penny wished the blush on her cheeks would go away, but it didn't.

"Do you love him?" Mee Maw sincerely asked. Penny nodded.

"I do, very much so, more than I thought I did." Penny confessed.

"In all my years, I have only one piece of advice. Every day is another day to love each other, don't let the days slip through your fingers." Mee Maw said. Penny could hear a twinge of pain in her voice. Penny nodded and grasped Mee Maw's hand. Mee Maw looked past Penny's shoulder and smiled. Penny heard Sheldon walk into the kitchen and stand beside Penny's chair.

"Oh Moon Pie, you'd better not let this one go." She said as she stood up. She walked toward him and hugged him around the waist briefly before starting her cleanup in the kitchen. Sheldon looked down at Penny. The look he gave her told her that he didn't understand the social situation he had just walked into. Penny picked up her last piece of bacon, took a bite, and placed a quick kiss on his cheek before placing her plate by the sink and bouncing past him, toward the stairs.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Penny disappeared upstairs, and Sheldon helped his grandmother with her clean up. The two of them stood side by side in her kitchen washing the dishes. Sheldon dried and put away, while Mee Maw washed. They worked through the chore in a comfortable silence and in a rhythm that could only be established through years of practice. Like a well-oiled machine, they were quick to complete the task at hand. After the dishes were washed and put away, Sheldon sat with his grandmother in the living room while she knitted.

"She's a nice girl Shelly." Mee Maw said as she cast on a new color in her knitting project.

"You know she's quite fond of you." She continued. Sheldon nodded.

"I know." He confirmed as he watched her wrap the dark green yarn around the knitting needles. Mee Maw set her knitting in her lap and rummaged through a basket on the floor. She sat back up and smiled at Sheldon.

"Moon Pie, I want you to have something." She said. He looked down at her hands and noticed small black velvet box.

"Shelly, since you began talking about this girl, I knew she was the one." Mee Maw confessed as she placed the box into his hands. Sheldon could feel his pulse quicken.

He looked down at the box and slowly opened it, revealing its contents. It was his Mee Maw's engagement ring. The rose gold ring sat perched in its box, the large brilliant cut champagne colored diamond was surrounded by a halo of smaller white diamonds. Sheldon felt like Frodo Baggins for a moment as he sat speechless, staring at the ring. He quickly snapped the box shut and gave his grandmother her ring.

"I can't accept this. I can't take the ring Pop Pop gave to you." Sheldon stammered. Mee Maw grasped his hands, placing the box into them, and gently closing his hands around the box.

"Moon Pie, I want you to have it." She said reassuringly. Sheldon licked at his suddenly dry lips.

"I'm not ready, Mee Maw." He countered. He hated how childish he sounded when he said it. Mee Maw chuckled.

"I'm not asking you to march upstairs and propose to her in the bathroom." Mee Maw clarified. Sheldon felt himself breathe out sigh of relief.

"You'll know when it's the right time, Shelly. Trust me." Mee Maw said. Just as she finished her sentence, Penny walked into the living room, clearly oblivious to their conversation. Sheldon stuffed the box in between the couch cushions and tried his best not to look guilty. Mee Maw sensed his apprehension, and put her kitting away, taking Penny by the arm and leading her into the kitchen asking her if she would like to help with dinner prep for tonight. Sheldon's heart hammered in his chest and he pulled out the ring box once more. He opened it up and admired it for a second before stuffing it into his pants pocket. He hated keeping secrets, and this one was going to be the hardest one he'd ever have to keep.


	16. Chapter 16

**Hopefully this makes up for my late update last week. Favs/follows/reviews are greatly appreciated. I love reading your comments, they really do brighten my day.**

**Enjoy!**

After returning home from Texas, Sheldon returned to the familiar rhythm of his routine. It was Wednesday night, comic book store night. He walked down to the lobby and checked his mail. Sheldon quickly sifted through the envelopes, tossing the junk in the trash. Not wanting to be late for the weekly comic book store excursion, he quickly walked up to the fourth floor. As he twisted the door handle to his apartment, he heard Penny coming out of hers. He closed his door and turned around as she greeted him.

"Hey Sheldon." She cheerfully said as she walked over to him. She raised up on her tip toes and placed a kiss on his cheek. She was wearing a pair of denim shorts and a coral crew neck t-shirt. Sheldon couldn't help but breathe in her green apple scented strands before she pulled away from him.

"Hello Penny." He replied. He shifted his weight onto one foot and clasped his hands and his mail behind his back.

"What are you doing tonight?" Penny asked. Sheldon rolled his eyes at her.

"It's Wednesday." He responded. Penny folded her arms over her chest.

"So?" She retorted. Sheldon huffed.

"Penny, Wednesday night is Comic Book Night. Sometimes I worry that you may have early onset dementia" He replied, his voice was full of condescension. Penny smirked at him and took a step toward him, uncrossing her arms.

"Why don't you blow off the comic book store and have dinner with me instead?" She suggested. Sheldon felt a small twitch pull at the corner of his mouth when he began thinking about blowing off his schedule.

"But it's not date night, it's Comic Book Night." Sheldon countered. Penny moved another step closer and placed her hand on his chest. He could feel his heart beating against her fingertips, she looked up at him and smiled.

"So?" She asked. Sheldon swallowed. The smell of her shampoo was all he could focus on.

"Besides, I have something for you that's better than a comic book." She said in a teasing tone. Her fingers ran down his chest, lingering at the waist of his pants, settling on his hips. A shiver ran down his spine and Sheldon almost didn't care about his schedule.

"I'll make you spaghetti and hot dogs." She offered. Before he realized that he was responding to her invitation, he was nodding his head. Penny smiled and softly pressed her lips to his. He brought his hands to hers as he pulled away.

"I'll see you in a bit?" She asked. Sheldon nodded and Penny grinned. She walked past him, down the stairs and out of sight. Sheldon walked into his apartment and set the mail on the kitchen island. Leonard rushed from his bedroom into the living room.

"Ready?" He asked as he snatched his keys from the coffee table. Sheldon cleared his throat.

"I'm not coming." He told his roommate. Leonard gave him a concerned look.

"What? Why not? Are you sick? I don't want to have to take care of you." Leonard whined. Sheldon shook his head.

"No, I'm not sick. I'm having dinner with Penny." He stated. The second the words left his mouth, he was almost questioning himself. Perhaps Leonard's observation was correct. Maybe he was sick.

"Tonight is comic book night, and you're not coming?" Leonard asked, trying to garner some clarification.

"Yes." Sheldon established.

"You're sure?" Leonard asked as he walked toward the front door.

"Yes." Sheldon confirmed. Leonard shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay, suit yourself." He said as he twisted the door knob and left the apartment. Sheldon stood in the silence for a moment, almost regretting his decision. He was almost certain that Howard would get the newest comic from Batman Volume 2: City of Owls that Sheldon had his eye on, but the more he thought about his evening with Penny, the less he worried about his comic book.

He took in a deep breath and made his way over to Penny's apartment. After completing his round of knocks, Penny opened up her door and moved aside to let him in. Sheldon followed Penny to her kitchen and after removing a sheer tank top from one of the bar stools, he sat down at the island. He watched her as she grabbed a brown paper bag from the kitchen counter across from the island and placed it on the island in front of him.

"This is what's better than the comic book store." Penny said. He looked from the bag to her, she couldn't contain her excitement. Sheldon didn't like surprises, but Penny had never disappointed with gifts. He picked up the bag and reached in, only to pull out a white linen napkin. He unfolded it and stared at the signature for a moment before it registered that she had gotten him William Shatner's signature. The note read: _Sheldon, Boldly go where no man has gone before. William Shatner_. Sheldon conceded to himself that while it was nowhere nearly as exciting as receiving Leonard Nimoy's signature, the sentiment was still very touching.

"Well?" Penny asked, looking from him to the napkin. Sheldon thought back to when she gave him Mr. Spock's signature many Christmases ago, he wished he could have given her more than a simple hug. Sheldon smiled. Set down the napkin and grasped her hand, pulling her close to him as he swiveled in the bar stool. He gently brushed her hair behind her ear and placed his hands on her hips.

"You're amazing, Penny." He said before kissing her. Sheldon let his hands drop from her hips to her denim shorts, his fingers explored the frayed hemline as she ran her hands through his short hair. Penny playfully bit at his bottom lip, causing him to grasp the hem of her shorts, pulling her closer into him. Sheldon let out a quiet groan as his arousal stirred. His hands grasped the back of her bare legs and it was as if his primal instincts took control.

Sheldon stood up from the bar stool, picking Penny up as he stood. She let out a surprised squeal and pulled back from their heated kiss. Sheldon watched her chest rise and fall with every short and quick breath she took. Her lips were rosy and her eyes were dilated, she searched his face with her bright green eyes and a smile spread across her face. Penny quickly brought her lips back to his, to engage him in another kiss.

He set her down on the kitchen table and roughly grasped at her soft thighs. Penny ran her tongue against his when his lips parted. Sheldon could feel himself straining against his pants, it didn't help that Penny was lifting his shirts and running her fingertips along his abdomen. She gently traced her fingers along the hair that disappeared into his pants.

Penny stood up, brushing against his hardness with her thigh. Sheldon let out a shaky breath against her lips. Penny grinned into another kiss as she lead him to her bedroom. She lifted up his shirts and as the back of his knees hit the edge of her mattress, she pushed him onto her bed and pulled off his shirts in the process.

Without missing a beat, Penny straddled his lap and pressed her lips against his once more. Sheldon couldn't even think of anything else but her, he was lost in the moment, he was sure he wouldn't be able to find his way out of Penny's labyrinth. Her fingertips traced lazy, incoherent paths along his bare shoulder blades. Sheldon ran his hands up her back, twisting his fingers into her long, wavy hair. He began lifting up her shirt with his free hand and Penny assisted him by taking off her shirt in one fluid movement. Sheldon licked at his suddenly dry lips and stared at Penny. His eyes ran up her toned stomach to her lacy white and pink bra. Her chest heaved underneath the material, her perky breasts strained against the confines of her bra. Sheldon swallowed and reached out to touch the soft skin above her shorts.

"I didn't turn on the stove." Penny croaked out. Sheldon unbuttoned her shorts, signaling that he wasn't ready to stop. Penny bit her lip as he brought his lips to her collarbone.

"Water only takes approximately eight to ten minutes to boil depending on variables such as-" He whispered against her skin. Penny quickly interrupted him.

"Sheldon?" Sheldon took his eyes off of her goose bumps that appeared on her skin and caught her gaze.

"Shut up." She said as she pressed her lips against his. Sheldon closed his eyes and melted into her kiss. The feeling of her pressing against his hardness drove him mad. He resisted the urge to press himself further against her and instead let out an almost frustrated moan against her lips. Penny got off of his lap and laid down on her candy colored sheets. She guided Sheldon on top of her and he instinctively pressed his lips against her neck.

Penny reached down and unbuttoned his pants. Sheldon let her push his pants down his hips, assisting her when she couldn't reach any longer. He sat up on his knees in between Penny's thighs and cleared his throat. He firmly gripped the waist band of Penny's shorts and pulled them down her thighs. Her matching pink and white panties hugged her hips. Sheldon's breathing was ragged and he stared at her through heavy lids. He felt like he wasn't getting enough oxygen into his brain, but he didn't mind, he could suffocate for all he cared. He swallowed at the nervous lump in his throat and brought his lips back to hers.

"Sheldon." Penny said in between kisses. Sheldon didn't stop to let her complete her sentence. He tugged his briefs down his thighs and pressed himself against her damp panties. Penny buried herself into the crook of his neck as she ground against his erection, moaning as she did so. Sheldon felt himself getting lightheaded, but he persisted. He slipped his fingers into the waistband of her panties and tugged them down her legs, tossing them onto her cluttered floor.

"Are you sure that you're ready?" Penny whispered against his neck. Sheldon pulled away from her and admired her for a moment. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were wide.

"I want you. I want all of you. Please don't ask me to stop." Sheldon said, his voice was deep and gruff. Penny nodded and quickly grabbed a condom from her nightstand. She opened it and slid it onto Sheldon's hardness. Her touch was almost enough to set him off, but he resisted. Penny undid the clasp of her bra and let it fall off her shoulders before laying back down on the bed.

Sheldon watched as he guided himself to her. He pressed against her entrance and resisted the urge to close his eyes. As he entered her, Penny gasped. His eyes flicked up to her face, her eyes were closed and her lips were parted. Sheldon pushed further into her and watched her eyebrows furrow as she let out a heavy breath. He filled her in ways he never could've imagined. The heat and tightness of Penny caused him to close him eyes and let out a soft, almost inaudible groan. Penny wiggled her hips in a small circle, and Sheldon involuntarily moaned.

He gently pulled out of her only to thrust back into her. The sensation was indescribable. It made his head swim and his extremities tingle. Penny cried out as he crashed back into her, and Sheldon was sure he couldn't hold on much longer. She pulled him deeply into her and held his hips in place while Sheldon cupped her breast in his large hands. When his tongue touched her nipple, Penny threw her head back and arched her back. Sheldon placed his arms under her lower back and pulled her on top of him. Sheldon laid back and watched Penny ride his arousal while running her hands along her body. Sheldon felt his lower abdomen tighten, he knew he was close.

"Oh God, don't stop." He said as he pressed the back of his head into the mattress. Penny thrashed her hips against his and she cried out as she tightened around him. He felt his own orgasm rush over him as Penny throbbed around his member. Sheldon came, releasing himself inside her. Penny rolled onto the bed beside him and the two of them fought to catch their breath. Sheldon stared at her ceiling, trying to slow down his accelerated heart rate. He turned his head toward her and his eyes darted across her face.

"Wow." Penny breathed. Sheldon silently nodded his head in agreement. He didn't quite have the words, but her description was sufficient to say the least. Penny sat up, grabbed her robe from her bedroom floor and tossed it on. Sheldon placed his hand onto his chest, which was slick with perspiration.

"Penny, can I-" He started.

"Clean towels are in the closet in the bathroom." She interrupted with a smile on her face. Sheldon nodded against the mattress, still unable to move. As he watched her disappear, he sat up and got out of her bed to make his way to the bathroom for a quick shower. While it was messy, slightly unsanitary, and unnecessary appeals to a deity were made, it was definitely better than the comic book store. After all, it wasn't like he couldn't order comic books online.


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi friends, thank you for all of your input. The Red Celt, thank you for your inspiration in re-working this chapter. As always, favourites, follows, and reviews are greatly appreciated.**

**Enjoy!  
**

Penny heard the shower begin to run as she turned on the stove and put a pot of water on the burner. She smiled to herself when she thought about her boyfriend getting soapy in her bathroom. Penny grinned when she thought about the sex that they just had. She wanted him to feel like he was in control of the situation, so when he asked her not to stop him, who was she to argue?

She watched the lifeless water sit stagnant in the stainless steel pot as she did a mental play by play. For their first time together, the sex was surprisingly good. She knew that as he gained more confidence it could potentially be mind-blowing. Her heart stopped for a second and then dropped into her stomach as she looked up from the pot of water.

"Shit." Penny whispered to herself. It was likely his first time, like his _very _first time, and Penny did nothing. No cuddling, no talking, nothing. She felt her stomach flip when she thought about her first time. To this day it still made her feel physically ill.

It was so long ago. She was fifteen and she gave it up after a football game to Greg Hodges, the football team's kicker. She only did it because she hoped she would become popular. While Penny did experience popularity, it wasn't the kind she was hoping for. For almost six months after, she got dirty looks and mean stares from the girls and sexual offers from the boys.

After five minutes of him heaving over top of her and coming on her thigh, Penny was told that she should probably leave because his mom would be home any minute. Only a few weeks after, she found out that his mother was actually in Jamaica with her boyfriend at the time and Greg wanted Penny out so he could show another girl a "good time". She remembered feeling so used and worthless.

Penny licked at her dry lips and walked toward the bathroom, abandoning the pot of water on the stove. She stood in front of her bathroom door and listened as the shower continued to run. She quickly knocked at the door and waited in silence, nervously wringing her hands together.

"Sheldon?" She called into the bathroom as she softly knocked again. The water turned off and she heard the shower curtain being pushed aside. She knocked again.

"Sheldon Sweetie, can I come in?" She asked through the door. Sheldon opened the door and Penny stood there gawking at him. He had a bright pink towel wrapped around his slender waist, his sharp hip bones jutted out against the softness of the fabric. Penny watched as a droplet of water fell from his hair onto his collar bone and rolled down his chest, disappearing into his chest hair. Penny swallowed hard and pushed out the inappropriate scenarios that played out in her mind.

"Sheldon I need to talk to you." She said urgently as she pushed past him into her steamy bathroom. Sheldon silently watched her as she picked up his folded clothes from the seat of the toilet, and placed them in her lap as she sat down. Penny stared at the floor for a moment before speaking.

"Are you okay?" She genuinely asked as she looked up and met his gaze. Sheldon's eyebrows softly furrowed as he closed the door and walked toward her, sitting on the edge of her bathtub.

"I'm fine, however, I'm a bit puzzled as to why you're asking me about my well-being." Sheldon told her. Penny felt even guiltier. She gripped his long sleeve tee and absentmindedly played with the hem on the bottom of the garment.

"Sweetie, what we shared was a big deal and I.. I just want your first time to be better than mine was." Penny explained while staring at the dark grey fabric in her hands. Sheldon put his hand over hers. She stopped playing with his shirt and looked up him.

"Penny, I think it's safe to say that I'm not expert when it comes to social interactions, but I felt the time you allotted for post-coital cuddling was sufficient." Sheldon told her in a matter-of-fact tone. Penny rolled her eyes.

"It wasn't though, I feel like it wasn't enough. It was all wham, bam, thank you Sheldon." Penny argued, she was beginning to feel angrier with herself as she continued the conversation. She was no better than the high school football kicker that left her feeling so terrible. Sheldon gently gripped her wrist and rubbed at her forearm with his thumb.

"I think you are blowing things out of proportion, Penny." Sheldon offered. Penny narrowed her eyes at him.

"You blow things out of proportion all the time." Penny countered, slightly raising her voice. Sheldon protested.

"Name one time that I did." He retorted.

"Oh my god, okay, how about that time you put a GPS transmitter in your garbage because you thought the Korean guys who live on the third floor were stealing your doodles?" Penny said, satisfying his request.

"They're not doodles, they're-" Sheldon started, but Penny quickly cut him off.

"Or how about the time you put on one of Leonard's shirts and thought you started growing again, claiming that you were in fact a 'superior being'?" Penny said with a raise of her eyebrows.

"Yes, but-" Sheldon began but Penny interrupted him with one more example.

"Or that time where I had to drive you to the comic book store for a month _straight_ because you thought the CIA was following you in Leonard's car?" Penny finished as she triumphantly folded her arms across her chest. Sheldon pressed his lips together and darted his eyes to the floor.

"I said name _one_ time." He muttered. Penny couldn't help but feel a little bit bad for her teasing. He looked back up into her face, his eyes studied her features for a moment before he took her hands into his.

"Penny, I'm fine. We'll have plenty of time to figure out what works for us. Your concern for my mental state is touching, but unwarranted. Okay?" He asked. Penny stared into his soft blue eyes, they were like the calm after the storm. She quickly nodded and offered him a small smile.

"Okay." She agreed. Sheldon pressed his lips to her forehead before he took his clothes from her.

"Now get out so I can get dressed." Sheldon said with a dismissive wave of his hand. Penny rolled her eyes at him and left the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She still felt bad, but not as bad as she did before they talked it out. As she returned to her pot of water which had come to a rolling boil, her inappropriate thoughts rushed back to her mind. How could he look that good in a _pink_ towel?

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

"Well, that was sixty minutes of my life I will never get back." Sheldon sardonically quipped as he stood up from Penny's couch. She couldn't help but grin as she stood up and pecked him on the lips.

"Oh c'mon, it wasn't that bad." Penny countered. Sheldon raised his eyebrows at her.

"Penny, we just watched a show about affluent, bourgeoisie women who seem to do nothing to contribute to _anything_ valuable in society, except participate in a sad attempt at kick starting the economy with exorbitant amounts of spending on tiny dogs and purses." Sheldon condescended. Penny patted him on the chest in an attempt to sooth him.

"Well, aside from the last hour of horrendous television that you deem 'entertaining', I had a pleasant evening Penny." Sheldon said as he walked toward the door. Penny put her hands on his hips as he placed his hand on the door.

"Are you sure that you don't want to stay the night?" Penny asked, unconsciously biting her lip. Sheldon felt a smile tug at his lips.

"While the offer is tempting, I should go. I have to work tomorrow and I don't think I can handle any more disruptions to my schedule." He admitted. Penny nodded. She let go of his hips as Sheldon kissed her on the cheek. As he walked out into the hall, he turned back and watched her close her apartment door.

Sheldon quickly entered his apartment and closed the door behind him. Leonard was sitting on the couch watching Babylon 5. Sheldon walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. He could feel his friends eyes on him. He stood in the kitchen and placed his water on the island. Leonard sat up in his chair, turned off the tv, and picked up a comic book from the coffee table.

"I picked this up for you. I spotted it before Howard could… did you shower?" Leonard asked, inspecting Sheldon as he placed the Batman comic on the island. Sheldon felt himself flush with embarrassment.

"No." He quickly lied. He silently cursed the twitch that pulled at the corner of his lip.

"You did. You smell like Penny's shampoo." He deduced. Sheldon watched as his roommates eyes grew wider. Sheldon felt himself turn a deeper shade of crimson.

"Oh god, you guys…" Leonard concluded. He quickly shook his head.

"I don't want to hear about it." He hastily told Sheldon.

"Good, I don't want to tell you about it." He retorted. Leonard defensively crossed his arms across his chest, Sheldon picked up his water bottle and new comic book.

"Fine by me." Leonard said sounding slightly offended. Sheldon nodded and walked past him toward his bedroom. He hated conflict. Sheldon closed his bedroom door behind him and sat on his bed, staring at his new comic book. He set it on his bed and walked out into the kitchen where Leonard still stood. Sheldon cleared his throat and Leonard turned around. Sheldon felt his pulse beating in his neck. He felt a rush of adrenaline kick in, which always made him feel sick to his stomach.

"Leonard, you don't get to make me feel bad for being with Penny." Sheldon confronted. His mind was running a thousand times a second, he had to carefully choose his words.

"Sheldon, I-" Leonard started.

"No, this isn't about you. This is about me and this is about Penny. I'm in love with her, Leonard. I'm unequivocally, in love with her." Sheldon revealed. Leonard dropped his hands to his sides. Sheldon could see his eyes shining with tears.

"What Penny and I do together behind closed doors is none of your business." Sheldon finished. Leonard had no words. He silently nodded his head. The two friends stood in the kitchen quietly for a moment before Leonard broke the silence between them.

"It's hard, Sheldon. Seeing you two together, sometimes it just kills me." Leonard confessed, softly shrugging his shoulders. He shifted his eyes to the ground in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

"I don't understand, I thought you and Amy were happy together." Sheldon said seeking clarification to Leonard's previous statement.

"We are, it's just that when I think about you and Penny I can't help but think what you have that I don't, and it drives me insane." Leonard admitted. Sheldon crossed his arms and shifted his weight onto one foot.

"Well for starters,-" Sheldon began.

"The question was rhetorical,Sheldon." Leonard said, stopping Sheldon from stating all the ways he was superior to his roommate.

"Oh." Sheldon quietly said.

"Just don't hurt her." Leonard told him. Sheldon responded with a puzzled look.

"Leonard, have you seen her brawny Nebraska hands?" He said with a slight shake of his head. Leonard couldn't help but chuckle. Sheldon let out a small sigh of relief.

"Good night Leonard." Sheldon offered. Leonard nodded and Sheldon turned on his heel, making his way back toward his bedroom. He was glad that things seemed to be out in the open between him and Leonard, after all, they were friends. He could still sense some tension,but for the most part, the situation had been diffused.

Sheldon picked up his new comic book from the bed and filed it away into his comic book collection. After he got ready for bed, he laid in his dark room, staring up at the ceiling. He thought about what he said to Leonard. It was easy to tell Leonard that he loved Penny, if only it were that easy to say to her. Sheldon closed his eyes and soon he drifted off to sleep. His dreams were filled with Penny, it was one of the best sleeps he had in a while.


	18. Chapter 18

**Hi friends,**

**I am so so sorry I haven't updated in a little while. Taking two classes over the course of eight weeks is a little bit overwhelming.  
Thank you for your patience and understanding.  
**

**Enjoy!**

Sheldon sat down to lunch at his regular table but instead of sitting down to the exhausting drone of banal chit chat, he sat down to a table full of expectant faces. He cautiously set down his tray while sitting down beside Leonard and across from Howard, who had a huge smarmy grin on his face. Sheldon glanced at Raj who looked like he had just finished watching a Disney Princess movie, then he quickly shifted his eyes towards Leonard who was absent-mindlessly pushing his food around on his plate with the tines of his fork. Sheldon unfolded his napkin, placed it in his lap and uncomfortably cleared his throat.

"Hello." He half-heartedly greeted to no one in particular. His voice was low and he felt it reverberate deep within his chest.

"Hello!" Howard and Raj cheerfully replied in unison. Sheldon tried to hold back the scowl that snuck onto his face. Howard leaned forward and clasped his hands together in front of him. Sheldon tried to avoid his bright blue eyes as Howard opened his mouth to speak.

"Sooo… How are things?" Howard asked. Sheldon looked up from his plate and mirrored Howard's stance by folding his hands in front of him.

"That's a rather ambiguous question Howard. You'll have to be more specific as to what _things_ you are referring to." He dryly retorted. Howard rolled his eyes.

"He wants to know how things are going with you and Penny. I have to admit, I'm a little bit curious too." Raj interrupted. Sheldon felt blood rush into his cheeks, he was sure they were crimson with embarrassment. The rate of transmission of gossip within his social group was astounding, it was almost as if he was friends with the cast of Gossip Girl. Sheldon snapped his eyes toward Leonard, who was still pushing his food around on his plate.

"You told them?" Sheldon accused in a hushed tone. Leonard looked up from his food and frowned.

"Told us what?" Raj questioned with wide brown eyes. Sheldon turned his attention to Howard and Raj. He licked at his dry lips and tried to remain calm. Now that his personal life was out in the open, he had to try to regain control over it.

"Leonard clearly felt that it was his responsibility to inform you that Penny and I engaged in coitus last night and clearly he was mistaken in his assumption. My sex life is none of your business." Sheldon warned. Howard and Raj quickly looked at Leonard and back to Sheldon.

"Whoa, who said anything about sex? You're having sex!? Sheldon's having sex?" Howard sputtered, his eyes wildly darted from Sheldon, to Leonard, and settled on Raj. Sheldon felt his heart stop. Was he hoisted on his own petard? He looked back at Leonard who had a soft smile on his face.

"I didn't tell them anything." Leonard said with a quick raise of his eyebrows as he popped a cherry tomato into his mouth. Sheldon turned toward Howard and Raj who appeared to be a little bit stunned.

"Oh…" Sheldon mumbled. He knew there was no use back pedaling.

"Regardless, this isn't one of those reality shows that Penny watches where people divulge their personal lives on national television, so let's change the subject. Fun fact, American car horns-" Sheldon began rattling off.

"But you just divulged your personal life to us." Howard reminded him in a teasing tone. Sheldon felt his mouth twitch.

"Can we change the subject?" Sheldon pleaded.

"Sure thing, Kim Kardashian." Raj replied in a sassy tone. Sheldon turned to Leonard who smiled widely back at him.

"So are you guys going to the fundraising gala this weekend?" Leonard asked the table. Howard shrugged his shoulders as he took a bite of his sandwich and Raj smiled at the question. Sheldon rolled his eyes and thought about how much he detested attending these kinds of events.

"Free food, minimal work? I'm in." Howard said with a quick nod of his head.

"I just bought a new suit, I can't wait to roll into the party looking like a mocha 007." Raj commented. Sheldon shook his head at the comment.

"I don't know how many times I have to remind you people how pointless those fundraising galas are." Sheldon said. Leonard shrugged.

"That's just because you don't know how to get money out of stuffy old people." Leonard casually quipped.

"Says the man who pimped himself out to a woman twice his age to get the physics department millions of dollars' worth of funding." Sheldon reminded Leonard with a smirk.

"Well, why don't you bring Penny?" Raj suggested. Howard nodded in agreement, but Sheldon furrowed his brow.

"I'm not going to pimp out Penny at the gala." Sheldon said, stating the obvious. Howard shot Raj a concerned look. Sheldon rolled his eyes.

"Why would I bring Penny to a fundraising gala?" Sheldon questioned, raising his eyebrows.

"Uh, hello? She's a pretty young thing. You can use her to your advantage. All she has to do is casually touch a few arms, laugh at a few jokes while you talk up your research." Howard stated. Sheldon quickly shook his head.

"I hardly think she'd be interested, besides-"

"Penny not interested in a party? C'mon dude." Raj interjected. Sheldon felt defeated. He really didn't like going to these things, but he supposed that if Penny was by his side, it wouldn't be too bad. After all, she did have a sort of folksy charm that may help his with his overly obvious social awkwardness.

"Fine. I'm only going on the presumption that Penny will accompany me." Sheldon finally said, giving in to his friends.

The rest of lunch went by quickly. He soon returned to his office and while sitting at his desk, Sheldon found that instead of thinking about the vastness of the universe, he was thinking about the party he reluctantly agreed to go to. Technically, the party was _in_ the vast universe, so it had to count for something. While battling with his internal anxieties, his phone sounded off with Penny's bubbly text tone inside his desk drawer. He dug out his phone and read her text.

**_P: Hey what are you doing?_**

Sheldon smiled.

**_S: I'm solving the mysteries of the universe, what are you doing?_**

Penny was quick to reply.

**_P: How can I live up to that? I'm sitting on my couch half-dressed watching cat videos. _**

Sheldon smirked.

**_S: Charming. _**

**_P: Want to hang out tonight?_**

Before he could contemplate his response to her invitation, his fingers were sending off a text.

**_S: Yes_**

He didn't mean to reply as quickly as he did, but before he could regret his eagerness, she was replying to his text.

**_P: Perfect! See you later._**

_o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o_

The moment Sheldon finished knocking on Penny's door, she was stepping outside of her apartment and locking the door behind her. She was wearing a mint and white striped long sleeved tee and a pair of capris. Her hair was styled in loose waves that softly framed her face. A blue and green checked blanket was tucked underneath her arm. She rose up on her tiptoes, steadied herself with her free hand and briefly touched her lips to his. Penny grasped Sheldon's hand into hers and began leading him toward the stairwell.

"C'mon, I have a surprise for you." Penny said with a mischievous smile.

"Penny it's Thursday." Sheldon stated. Penny's smile faded.

"So?" She countered, she shifted her weight onto one foot and her hip softly jutted out. Sheldon wasn't sure he could deviate from his schedule for a second night in a row.

"It's pizza night." He reminded her. Penny rolled her eyes.

"You can have pizza where we're going." She insisted.

"Besides, isn't it Anything Can Happen Thursday? Third Thursday of the month, right?" Penny argued. Sheldon knew she was right.

"Penny-" He began, his voice sounded unsure. He wasn't sure how she did it, but the look that was displayed on her face made him want to move mountains for her. She pouted her glossed pink lips and looked at him with big, sad, shining green eyes.

"Please Sheldon, I promise it will be fun." Penny assured. Sheldon let out a small sigh of defeat.

"Fine." He simply stated. Penny ginned at him and he couldn't help but return her infectious smile. They continued their way down the stairs in silence. This was going to be the second night that he broke his schedule for her. It was as if he was living in a comfortable anarchy with her. He was afraid that if she asked him to, he would disregard his schedule all together for her.

They walked hand in hand into the cool evening air toward Penny's car. Sheldon wasn't sure how he felt about not knowing where she was taking them, he felt a bit apprehensive, but he also felt extremely excited. His stomach was filled with knots and he would never admit it, but he liked the idea of going on an adventure with Penny. So, like a more modern, much taller Bilbo Baggins, he got into the passenger seat of Penny's red Volkswagen.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hi friends, **

**I'm going to be pretty busy over the next week and a half, so I am going to give you another chapter and on top of that it's an extra-long one. As always, favourites, follows, and reviews are greatly appreciated. If you liked something in the chapter, tell me because positive feedback is awesome to hear :) If you didn't, tell me because it helps me become a better writer. Also, I apologize in advance for any mistakes I didn't catch, so if you see something, PM me and I'll fix it. Thank you everyone, I couldn't do it without you.  
**

**Enjoy!**

After a twenty-five minute drive on the I-10, Penny and Sheldon arrived at her surprise destination, the Santa Monica Pier. The lights and the sounds of the persistent beach carnival made Penny smile. She held onto Sheldon's hand and gently guided him toward the midway. The breeze was cool and salty, Penny let it wash over her for a moment. She leaned into Sheldon as they walked down the pier. They passed by the carnival games and food vendors on a mission to somewhat adhere to Sheldon's schedule.

"You know that carnivals date back to the 15th century?" Sheldon mentioned as they walked. Penny smiled and looked up at him.

"Is that so?" Penny asked. Sheldon glanced at her before standing in line to get a slice of pizza.

"Yes, why would I tell you something that wasn't factual?" Sheldon said. Penny resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him.

"So what was your favorite game to play when you were a kid?" Penny asked. Sheldon looked at her like she two heads.

"Penny, most of my childhood was spent preparing for college. I didn't have time to play carnival games." Sheldon retorted. Penny felt bad for young Sheldon Cooper, boy genius. Sometimes she forgot that he received his first doctorate when he was only sixteen.

"Oh c'mon, you lived in Texas, you're telling me that you didn't go to one state fair?" Penny argued.

"I did, but I spent my time there pretending to be Mr. Spock, examining life on earth." Sheldon confessed. Images of Sheldon as a kid pretending to be Spock made her smile.

They ordered their pizza, sat down on a bench and watched people as they ate. As the people passed by, Penny made comments about their lives based on their social cues and body language. Sheldon looked at her in amazement.

"That lady over there in the pink dress is totally not digging on her date." Penny informed Sheldon.

"How do you know that she is disinterested?" He asked. Penny could see him trying to decipher the woman's body language.

"Just look at her, she's looking at the ground or her nails when she talks to him, and she keeps her arms in front of her. She's trying to put something in between them. It's too bad because he's really into her." Penny said. Sheldon watched the couple and shook his head.

"Fascinating." He muttered. His attention returned to Penny. His eyes lit up and he smiled at her.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're brilliant?" Sheldon asked her. Penny narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yeah okay, ha ha. I know I'm not as smart as you Sheldon." Penny said, slightly hurt. Sheldon quickly shook his head.

"I'm not being derisive." He explained.

"In English?" Penny said sounding a bit irritated.

"Penny, your social intelligence is astounding. While I don't subscribe to the social sciences, I think it would be a field in which you could thrive." Sheldon told her. Penny couldn't help but smile. She couldn't remember the last time someone complimented her like that. Penny leaned in and kissed him. She felt him stiffen, but he didn't pull away despite being in a very public place.

"Well, you're pretty smart too." She told him. Sheldon's gaze was fixed on her and she watched a smirk form on his lips. She felt like the only two people on the pier were her and Sheldon.

"I'd have to lose sixty IQ points to be considered 'pretty smart'." He reminded her. Sheldon pressed his lips to hers. Penny cupped his cheek in her hand. He slowly pulled away from their kiss.

"I think the word you were looking for is _genius_." He whispered against her lips. Penny felt a shiver run down her spine. She quickly stood up and offered her hand to him. She needed to cool down, their displays of affection were getting pretty public, and she wanted to respect Sheldon's boundaries. He graciously took her hand and the two of them began walking back to Penny's car. When they reached her car, Penny popped the trunk and grabbed the blanket. Sheldon stood by the passenger side door, it looked like he expected that they would be leaving.

"Our date's not over yet." Penny said as she grabbed his hand. She began walking toward the beach, which caused Sheldon to stop. Penny turned to him, he looked out to the distance and back to her. She watched his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed hard. Reluctantly, he followed her when she gently tugged on his fingers.

Penny took off her sandals and carried them as she let her feet sink into the cool sand. Sheldon did the same, taking off his shoes and rolling up his pant legs to minimize the risk of getting sand everywhere. As they walked, the sun began to set. The cool wind gently pushed Penny's hair off of her shoulders.

They found a secluded spot on the beach and Penny laid out the blanket she had tucked under her arm. She sat down on the blanket and watched the ocean roll up to the beach, rhythmically coming in and going back out. The sun sat just above the horizon, painting the sky a vibrant pink, with splashes of deep purples and mystic blues. Sheldon sat down beside her and watched the same sunset. She wondered what he was thinking about, if he saw the same thing she did or if his overly analytical brain saw something different.

"I hate the beach." Sheldon stated as he looked out into the ocean. Penny turned to him. He was illuminated by the suns soft orange glow. He looked so much softer, and so much more vulnerable in this light. Penny grasped his hand into hers.

"If you hate the beach, why did you move to California?" Penny asked. Sheldon turned his attention away from the sunset to Penny. He studied her for a moment before answering.

"It has a similar climate to Texas and Cal-Tech has one of the best physics programs in the country." He easily explained. Penny nodded her head.

"Do you want to see something cool?" Penny asked. Sheldon simply nodded in reply.

"Watch." She said as she pointed at the sun in the distance. They sat in silence as the sun crept past the horizon. When the sun was no longer visible, Penny quickly got to her feet.

"C'mon!" She excitedly said as she offered her hand to help him up. Sheldon stood beside Penny holding her hand tightly. When they stood up, the same sun was still setting, since their perspective had changed, they were able to see it twice. After the sun had gone past the horizon a "second" time, Sheldon turned to Penny.

"I'm impressed with your use of angles." He said with a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Penny grinned and quickly kissed him on the cheek.

She sat back down on the blanket and Sheldon knelt in front of her. The light had left the sky, but still, his blue eyes sparkled in the dusk. He gently tucked her wavy blonde hair behind her ear and leaned in for another kiss. Penny breathed in his clean lemony scent, she loved that it was mixed with the saltiness of the ocean. She gently touched his long neck with the tips of her fingers, and as he gently parted his lips, she deepened their kiss by caressing his tongue with hers. Her fingers ran up his neck and traveled through his short brown hair.

The sound of the waves crashing against the shore and her incessant beating of her heart invaded her ears. Penny laid back on the blanket, coaxing Sheldon on top of her. His weight gently pressed against her and she could feel his arousal pressing against her thigh. Penny sighed into their kiss, causing Sheldon to pull back. His eyes searched hers, Penny didn't want him to stop. She knew he could see that in her face.

"Penny as much as I love… this, we should stop." Sheldon said, his voice boomed out into the darkness that was settling in. Penny nodded in agreement. Her heart pounded in her chest. She was sure he was going to say "as much as I love you", but sadly she was mistaken. In that moment she knew that she wanted him to tell her that he loved her. It hit her hard, like a craving for candy. They stood up, dusted themselves off and gathered their things. They walked through the sand back to Penny's car. The twenty-five minute drive back to their apartment building was the longest, most excruciating twenty-five minutes of her life. The air in her car was filled with thick, heavy sexual tension. Penny just wanted to pull the car over and have her way with him right there on the I-10, but she knew she couldn't so she focused on the road.

"I had a really fun time." Penny told him when they reached the fourth floor of their apartment building. She didn't want this night to end. The only thing she could think of was getting underneath Sheldon.

"Me too." Sheldon replied. Penny stood there for a moment before deciding that she should probably just go home. She didn't want Sheldon to feel overwhelmed, after all, they had sex for the first time only yesterday.

"Okay, well I should." Penny said as she pointed toward her door. She turned to leave, but Sheldon quickly grabbed her wrist.

"Please don't go." Sheldon implored.

"Do you want to come in?" He asked. Penny's eyes darted across his face, he seemed sincere.

"Yes." Penny quickly replied, she couldn't hide the relief she felt when he asked her. Sheldon opened his front door, grasped Penny's hand into his and guided her through the living room. Penny ignored the looks of Howard, Raj, and Leonard who were playing an online game on their laptop as she dropped the blanket by the kitchen island.

They barely made it into the sanctuary of his bedroom before they were kissing each other. Sheldon pressed Penny against his bedroom door, causing it to loudly rattle on its hinges. Penny moaned into their kiss as she grasped his belt loops and pulled his hardness into her. Sheldon held her hand against the door above her head and began exploring her dainty neck with his lips.

Sheldon let go of Penny's hand and grasped at her thighs. He picked her up into his arms, and Penny squeeked out a squeal of surprise, Sheldon tried to keep her quiet by pressing his lips against hers, but she couldn't help but giggle into their kiss as he carried her to his bed. She felt him smile against her lips, which made her pull away. She grinned and let out another squeal when he gently tossed her onto his bed.

Penny bounced once before Sheldon was crawling in between her legs. He pressed his body against hers, Penny let out a sigh when she felt his weight pressing against her. He kissed along her neck, exploring the sensitive spot just beneath her earlobe. His hot breath on her skin drove her wild, her heart palpitated excitedly as he pushed up her shirt, exposing her stomach. Penny pressed her head into the softness of his mattress as he leaned back and studied her.

He quickly took off his shirts, tossing them onto the floor. His usual concern for tidiness was clearly being ignored, and that only turned Penny on more. Penny reached up and touched his lean stomach. She watched as goose bumps formed on his pale flesh. Sheldon quickly worked at the button on Penny's capris while Penny took off her shirt. Sheldon tossed her clothes in the same general direction as his shirts, Penny watched as his long fingers unbuttoned his pants. She wore a lacy mint bra and panty set, she always liked to be prepared. Sheldon was breathing heavily as he silently appreciated her like a classic oil painting. Penny felt her panties dampen as his hooded eyes glided like silk across her skin.

Sheldon got up from his bed and dug out a condom from his night stand. Penny watched as he pushed his pants down his hips, letting his pants and underwear fall to the floor. She smiled when she got an eyeful of his erect manhood. She appreciated the fact that he kept himself neatly trimmed, not to mention it only made him look bigger.

"Penny, don't stare. It's rude." Sheldon softly chastised as he got back into the bed with her. Penny blushed. She couldn't help it. She had never expected Sheldon Cooper to look that good naked. Sheldon laid on the bed and Penny straddled his lap. She moved her hips over his arousal, rhythmically teasing him by running her hands up and down her body. She watched him as he watched her. His eyes followed her hands as they cupped her full, perky breasts through the lacy fabric of her bra. She bit at her lip as she ran them down her stomach, letting her fingers slide into her panties. Sheldon's hardness jumped at the sight, brushing against her wet panties.

"You're beautiful." Sheldon whispered. Penny's heart stopped for a second. She had heard it all, in bed she had been called hot, sexy, dirty, but never beautiful. Penny brushed her hair to the side and leaned into him. She could feel him pulsating against her wetness, the only thing separating them was a thin piece of lace. Penny kissed him. She sunk into him and felt his chest heave against hers. He fumbled around with her bra clasp, but he finally managed to undo it. Penny quickly took off her bra, flinging it on the night stand and pressing her bare chest against his.

Penny managed to switch their positions, rolling onto her back and bringing Sheldon on top of her. He pressed himself against her as he hooked his fingers into the waist band of her panties. Penny kissed him as he gently tugged down her lacy underwear. She raised her hips up, so he could push them down her thighs. Penny felt him press against her again, the feeling of his bare skin against hers almost made her lose control. Sheldon closed his eyes and allowed his head to fall back. She watched his face as he seemed to catalog the sensation in his eidetic memory. He shuddered and pulled away from her.

Sheldon quickly put on the condom and guided himself to her. Penny loudly gasped when he slowly entered her. He stretched her around him as he sunk into her. She dug her nails into his shoulder blades as he pressed himself deep inside. He rolled his hips against hers and Penny cried out. Sheldon let out a heavy sigh as he pulled out of her. She wrapped her leg around his hip, coaxing him back inside her. Sheldon obliged her silent request, causing her to moan out his name. He pressed his lips against hers as he sank deep into her.

"Oh god Sheldon." Penny whispered into their kiss. Sheldon groaned as he picked up the pace of his thrusts. His head pressed into the pillow as he gently pressed his lips against her neck. He breathed heavily against her skin, causing Penny to shiver. Her nipples hardened against his chest, which was slick with perspiration. She moaned loud enough that she was sure that others could hear. Penny quickly took his shoulder into her mouth to muffle her cries of pleasure, unfortunately it wasn't very helpful.

"Fuck me harder Sheldon." Penny begged. Sheldon bit at his bottom lip as he thrust harder into her.

"Harder?" He asked in a low gruff voice. Penny gasped when their hips met.

"Oh my god, yes." She whispered as his hips slammed against hers. Penny's hands pressed into his chest and Sheldon took the opportunity to grasp them both in one of his large hands and pin them to the bed above her head. He used the other hand to cup her breasts and pinch at her erect nipples while he feverishly pumped his arousal into her.

"Oh Sheldon, please." Penny moaned, begging him to release.

"Please Sheldon." Penny cried out and Sheldon quickly covered her lips with his.

"Shhh." He whispered against her mouth. Penny grinned as he kissed her.

"Sheldon, I love you." Penny whispered as she felt her orgasm bubbling against the surface of her skin. She felt her toes curl as he circled his hips against hers. She felt every inch of him deep inside her. Penny arched her back and tightened around him as she climaxed. She felt him twitch as he came into her. Sheldon laid with his head on her chest for a moment as they caught their breath.

She could hear her heart beating in her ears, so she could only imagine what Sheldon was listening to. Penny took in a deep breath and ran her fingers through Sheldon's hair. After a moment of cuddling in their post-coital bliss, he sat up, took off his condom and tossed it in the trash can beside his dresser. He got back into the bed and laid down beside Penny. He glanced over at her and suddenly she felt shy. She turned onto her side toward Sheldon, covering her breasts with her arm.

"So now what?" Sheldon asked. Penny traced small incoherent designs onto Sheldon's bicep.

"Well, we can talk if you want." Penny suggested. Sheldon placed his hands on his chest and stared up at the ceiling.

"What would we talk about?" He naively asked.

"Would we talk about the coitus we just engaged in or would we participate in banal chit chat?" He continued. Penny propped herself up on her elbow.

"We can talk about whatever you want, or not talk at all if that's what you want." She offered.

"I see." He said. The two sat in silence for a moment. She could see the gears in his head working.

"Okay, how about this? Why do you hate the beach?" Penny asked. Sheldon turned toward her.

"What?" Sheldon asked as if he misheard the question. Penny knew he hadn't.

"Earlier, you said that you hated the beach." Penny reminded him. Sheldon seemed reluctant to answer her question.

"When I was six years old, my mother took us to Kemah Beach. My brother thought it would be amusing to throw me off the dock into the bay. I inhaled a lot of water and almost drown. Luckily, the life guard witnessed it and was able to get tome in time." Sheldon somberly told her.

"Oh. I'm sorry that happened to you, that's terrible." Penny sympathetically replied. Sheldon shrugged.

"I have a question." He said. Penny smiled.

"Okay, shoot." She encouraged.

"Penny did you tell me that you loved me just because we were having intercourse?" He asked. Penny felt her stomach tighten.

"Sweetie, no. Well yes, but it's not because we were having sex. I told you that I loved you because I love you." Penny explained. Sheldon glanced at her. She noticed a smile that tugged at his lips for a second, which made her smile.

"I love you too." He confessed. Penny grinned as she kissed him on the cheek.

"So are we engaging in what is commonly referred to as pillow talk?" Sheldon asked. Penny half nodded.

"I guess in some weird way it is." Penny said with a shrug.

"Penny, are you going to stay the night?" Sheldon asked. She hadn't considered it.

"Only if you want me to, Sweetie." She replied. Sheldon nodded at her answer.

"I do." He told her. Penny couldn't help but smile.

"I'm going to change the bedding, so we'll have to shower before we go to sleep." Sheldon told her. Penny nodded and got out of his bed. He offered her a clean towel, she took it from him and wrapped it around her naked body.

"Are you going to shower with me?" Penny asked as she gripped the door handle. Sheldon tossed on his robe without bothering to put on his pajamas.

"Only if you want me to." He offered, mirroring her reply. Penny caught on and grinned.

"I do." She replied with a raise of her eyebrow. Penny dashed into the bathroom, Sheldon was close behind her. She couldn't help but smirk when she noticed the guys in the living room gawking at them. She closed the door to the bathroom and shut out the nosy peanut gallery. Their shower lasted fourty-five minutes because they couldn't keep their hands off each other and Sheldon never actually got around to changing his bedding, in fact there wasn't much sleeping at their first sleep over.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hi friends, **

**Thanks again for all of your kind words and your encouragement. I really appreciate the time you take out of your lives to read my stories. Favourites, follows, and reviews are greatly appreciated.  
**

**As always, enjoy!**

Sheldon's alarm buzzed into the silence of his bedroom, waking both him and Penny up from their slumber. Sheldon quickly hit the alarm, rendering it silent. He sleepily snuggled back into bed, pulling Penny's warm body against his. He couldn't help but press his morning arousal into her backside. He breathed in her scent which had mixed in with his, and he pressed his lips against her neck. Penny sleepily moaned and held his hands against her stomach. He resisted the urge to explore her soft skin with his fingertips, instead he nuzzled into her wild blonde hair. Her breath was deep and rhythmic, almost hypnotizing, and when he matched his breath with hers, he slowly drifted back to sleep.

For the second time that morning, Sheldon awoke again to the persistent buzz of his alarm clock. When he turned his alarm off the first time, he must have mistakenly hit the snooze button. He fought against the sheets that had twisted around his lanky frame as he attempted to silence the relentless alarm. After missing the clock twice, he finally managed to turn it off. Penny stretched out. She rolled over and pulled his blue comforter up to her chin as she glanced over at him. A sleepy smile pulled at the corners of her lips as she adjusted the blankets and snuggled up against his chest.

"Good morning." She mumbled against his ribs, her lips tickled against his soft skin as she spoke. He quickly pressed his lips to her forehead as he wrapped his arm around her and lazily twisted the ends of her hair in between his fingertips.

"Good morning." He replied. His voice was deep and slightly hoarse. He didn't need to perform his morning vocal tests to know that he didn't get enough sleep last night. Sheldon kissed Penny again on the forehead before getting out of bed and grabbing the pajamas that he didn't wear last night out of his dresser. As he got dressed, he watched Penny snuggle back into the receding warmth of his bed, and for the first time since he had started his profession in physics, he didn't want to go in to work.

"Penny, before I leave-" Sheldon started.

"Don't worry, I'll be ready to go by the time you leave for work." Penny sleepily interrupted from inside her blanket cocoon. Sheldon knitted his eyebrows as he studied Penny's nest. He sat down on the bed beside her, she peered up at him with her soft green eyes.

"You can stay if you like, all I ask is that you lock the door when you leave. What I was going to say is that there is a fundraising party that the physics department is hosting tomorrow night and I was hoping that you would accompany me." Sheldon explained. Penny tried to mask her disappointment, but Sheldon could see she was not impressed with his request.

"Do I have to? Whenever Leonard dragged me to those things he would always ditch me by the shrimp platter." Penny complained as she sat up, wrapping the blanket tightly around her body.

"Besides those parties suck. It's just a bunch of old people treating you guys like a couple of show ponies." Penny pouted. Sheldon couldn't argue with the truth of her statement.

"While I won't argue with your premise, I would like to argue that it would suck less if you were there with me." He offered sympathetically. Penny's pout was replaced by a smile that she tried to hold back.

"Fine, but you can't abandon me by the hors d'oeuvres" She said, giving in to his request.

"Deal." Sheldon agreed before quickly kissing her on the lips and getting up off his bed. Penny flopped back down on the mattress as he opened the door and walked out into the hallway. He was already fifteen minutes late and he would have to forgo some of his morning routine if he wanted to be on time.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

After spending the morning sleeping in until nine, doing a bit of light snooping around in Sheldon's room and replacing his sheets with crisp, clean ones, Penny locked up 4A and went home across the hall. She quickly showered and got ready for her afternoon shift at the Cheesecake Factory. Mid-way through her shift, she sent a quick invite out to Amy and Bernadette to come over to split a bottle or two of wine and to engage in some much needed girl talk.

Her eight hour shift seemed to fly by, but it was easy to get lost in daydreams and memories that happened only hours ago. Soon her shift was over and she was trudging up through the stairwell to her apartment. Not long after getting changed into a comfy pair of purple sweats and a yellow t-shirt, her guests were knocking on her door. She opened the door to Amy and Bernadette who were grinning from ear to ear.

Penny couldn't help but smile back, she had been spending so much time with Sheldon lately that it was nice to see their happy faces. Penny poured her guests some wine and they all got comfortable in the living room. Amy and Bernadette clutched their glasses and exchanged knowing glances. Penny took a sip of the white wine she held in her hand. The taste was dry on her tongue. Penny knew they knew about her sex with Sheldon.

"So, Bernadette, how are things with you? How's work?" Penny asked, trying to avoid the unavoidable topic.

"It's good. I get to run a clinical trial this weekend, we're testing a new generic drug for erectile dysfunction, so it should be interesting." She replied with a slight raise of her eyebrow.

"Awe, does that mean you won't be at the physics fundraising thingy tomorrow night?" Penny asked, sounding a little bit disappointed.

"Yeah, probably not, I'll be pretty busy with writing up reports on our findings." She said. Penny couldn't help but feel a tiny bit jealous. If only she had something she could research to get her out of going to the boring party.

"You'll be there though, right?" Penny asked Amy. Amy nodded in reply.

"I will be in attendance; however, I will be doing my own academic recon." Amy confessed. Penny offered a nod, trying to mask the confusion on her face.

"I will be attempting to convince those that appear as though they will be kicking the proverbial bucket in the next five to ten years to donate their brains to science, specifically to my research facility. That way I will be available to support Leonard when the older ladies try to take him home for a night of bliss in exchange for funding, but I will also be doing justice to my own scientific field in the process." Amy explained. Penny nodded again.

"So how are things with you?" Bernadette prodded. Penny couldn't help but smile.

"Things are good. Really good actually." She vaguely offered.

"And Sheldon, how's he? Is he _really_ good?" Bernadette probed with a sly smile. Penny rolled her eyes. She took another sip of wine before crumbling under the pressure.

"Look, I know you guys know about me and Sheldon. I'm sure both Howard and Leonard didn't skimp on the details." Penny said raising her eyebrows. She could only imagine what they told Bernadette and Amy.

"Penny, we don't mean to pry into your business, but we're just naturally curious. I mean, before you, Sheldon was a sexual enigma." Amy told her.

"I know, I just don't think Sheldon would like me telling you guys about our sex life." Penny offered, trying to keep details to a minimum.

"That's totally understandable." Bernadette said, sounding slightly disappointed, but considerate at the same time.

"Would you be opposed to answering yes or no questions? I'll start. Is Sheldon a sexual stallion?" Amy asked. Penny sighed.

"Look, I'm not going to tell you every little detail, but I will tell you that when I'm with Sheldon, he's different. I don't know how to describe it, without making him sound like some kind of cyborg, but he's softer, y'know?" Penny offered. Bernadette and Amy nodded. Penny replayed last night's events in her head.

"I told him that I love him." Penny confessed.

"Awww!" Amy and Bernadette cooed in unison. Penny blushed. It was true, she was in love with him. It felt really good to say it out loud.

"Okay, okay, enough. It's not a big deal." Penny said.

The girls continued to chat while Penny recruited them to help her find a dress for the party. After the girls consumed their wine, judged Penny's fashion show, and made suggestive remarks about Penny's budding sex life, Amy and Bernadette went home. Penny was busy cleaning up the mess in the living room, when she was interrupted by her cell phone ringing. She set the wine glasses in the sink and picked up her phone. It was her agent.

"Hello?" Penny answered. She folded her arm across her stomach. She suddenly felt sick.

"Penny, It's Helen. Sorry for calling so late." She said offering a half apology, half mystery.

"Oh it's okay, I'm not busy." Penny told her.

"Listen, that commercial you shot with William Shatner was tested and people love it. It's going to start running nationally tomorrow." Helen stated. Penny smiled. At least she would be seeing some money from this commercial soon.

"Look another reason why I'm calling is because they want to shoot a second commercial with you. I'll let you know when they want to schedule you in." Helen continued. Penny forgot to breathe for a second.

"Oh my god, that's great!" Penny excitedly replied.

"Oh yeah, I also got a call from a big car company. They want you to come in and audition for them." Helen said. Penny couldn't believe it. It wasn't exactly Hollywood, but she'd take it. Penny thanked her agent again and tossed her phone down on the couch before jumping up on her cheap Swedish coffee table and dancing around like an idiot.

It was happening. Maybe she wasn't meant to make it in the movies or on a TV series, but maybe Penny found her niche. She had to admit, getting paid acting work was exciting, even if it was just commercials, and it finally felt that years of struggling was going to start paying off, at least for a little while. Penny finished cleaning up her apartment before going to bed, half drunk and smiling, thinks were definitely looking up.


	21. Chapter 21

**Hi friends, **

**Sorry for the wait. I plan to update more throughout the month of July.  
**

**Enjoy!**

The air in the conference room was dry and smelled of mothballs. The whole room buzzed with conversation, the physics department worked relentlessly at securing funds for the fiscal year to come. Penny stood beside Sheldon as he was explaining his recent work involving worm holes to a wealthy, science-savvy potential benefactor. She gingerly held onto her wine glass, still untouched as she stared off into space. Once she noticed it, she couldn't not notice it. She casually stared at the mustard stain on the lapel of Doctor Pruitt's grey herringbone suit jacket as Sheldon continued talking about his work. Doctor Pruitt wasn't the same kind of Doctor that Sheldon was, he was a thoracic surgeon, but he had always been interested in science and physics.

Penny continued to stare at the dry, yellow stain on his jacket as she absent-mindedly ran her finger tips along the rim of her untouched sine glass. She began to wonder what he had for lunch, if the mustard was even from lunch, how long the stain had been there, and how had he not noticed it. Penny decided that it was probably a turkey sandwich. She looked up from his jacket and noticed that the two men were looking at her expectantly. Before she was pulled out of her distraction, she thought she heard Sheldon asking if she agreed. Penny offered a genuine smile and tried her best to contribute to the conversation that she wasn't really listening to.

"Oh, yes. Totally." Penny replied with a slight nod of her head. Doctor Pruitt let out a low chuckle. His almost grey eyes lit up as he turned to Sheldon.

"She's quite funny Doctor Cooper." Doctor Pruitt delightfully quipped. Penny felt her cheeks get hot from embarrassment. Apparently she wasn't supposed to agree. Penny turned to Sheldon who nervously smiled at her. She hoped that she didn't ruin his academic sales pitch.

"Sheldon Sweetie, I'm going to go sit down for a minute." She said nudging her head toward the few tables situated at the back of the room. Sheldon nodded. Penny turned to Doctor Pruitt.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, Doctor." Penny said as she gingerly extended her hand. Doctor Pruitt took her hand but instead of shaking it, he softly pressed his lips to the back of her hand.

"The pleasure was mine, my dear." He replied. Penny smiled, took her hand back and walked away from the conversation toward the buffet. She pulled out a small bottle of hand sanitizer from her clutch and rubbed her hands together until the liquid was evaporated. She laughed to herself and thought that Sheldon might have a greater influence on her than she thought. Her eyes sifted through the crowd, she spotted Leonard and Amy.

They were schmoozing with President Siebert and Doctor Gablehauser. Leonard had a huge grin on his face and was chatting excitedly with the two men. Penny caught Amy's gaze and motioned for her to come over. Amy nodded, turned to the men, said something, and walked off. The eyes of the three men followed her until she disappeared into the crowd of people. Penny wondered what she said to them, but based on their reactions, she decided that she probably didn't want to know.

"Hey Bestie, what's up?" Amy beamed as she approached. Penny smiled and set down her untouched wine on the buffet table.

"Oh y'know, just boning up on the proper procedure for repairing thoratic aneurisms and learning about wormholes and something about space-time and I don't even know because I stopped listening." Penny complained. Amy sympathetically touched her shoulder.

"It's thora_cic_." Amy corrected. Penny rolled her eyes as she plucked a piece of shrimp from the buffet and popped it into her mouth.

"Who cares?" She dramatically asked in between bites. Penny felt like she did all the other times she attended these things with Leonard, lost in conversation and eventually floating around by the buffet. Penny sighed.

"How is everything going over there? I saw you guys talking to the big wigs." Penny said with a quick raise of her eyebrows. Amy couldn't help but break out into a grin.

"Very well, actually. It's not on paper yet, so don't say anything, but Leonard was just offered the tenure position." Amy quietly gushed. Penny looked over Amy's shoulder at Leonard who was still talking to the university's President and head of the physics department. She smiled.

"That's great news, I'm happy for him." Penny said, not really knowing what else to say. She knew Sheldon applied for the job too, she wasn't sure how he was going to take the rejection.

"I should get back." Amy said while stabbing her thumb in the direction of Leonard. Penny nodded and watched as Amy briskly walked back toward Leonard. She let out a soft sigh and looked around the room. She spotted Raj sitting alone at the tables in the back of the room. He was hunched over his phone. Raj quickly looked up as Penny approached him.

"Hi." Penny said as she sat down beside Raj, his attention fell back to the bright screen. Raj clutched his phone in his hands, it seemed like he was waiting for a text or an email.

"Hello." He replied without looking at her. Penny watched the crowd as the two of them sat in silence. This was definitely one of the larger functions that she had been to, either that or more people decided to attend.

"She's not coming." Raj stated, solemnly breaking the silence between them. Penny looked over at him, his big brown eyes were full of sadness.

"I'm sorry Raj. There's always next time though." She offered, trying to assure him. Raj shook his head.

"No, there isn't." He said, turning away from her. Penny furrowed her brow as Raj handed her his phone. Penny scrolled through his text conversation with Lucy.

**_R: Where RU?_**

**_L: I'm sorry, I can't_**

**_R: It's ok. Next time_**

**_L: No, I can't do this. Us. I'm sorry._**

**_R: What? _**

**_R: Lucy?_**

**_R: Lucy please don't do this_**

The last two texts were sent over the span of the last two hours. Penny's heart broke for him. She handed Raj his phone back and moved her chair closer to him. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and casually comforted him. It was the only thing she could do.

"Penny, why am I so unlovable?" Raj asked. His voice cracked and his eyes glistened with tears. Penny felt her heart break into even smaller pieces. She felt tears sting the backs of her eyes.

"Raj, don't say that. You're lovable. One day you'll find someone who really deserves you." Penny offered. Raj quickly shook his head.

"I won't." He protested. Penny rhythmically rubbed at his bicep.

"Raj, Sweetie, you will." Penny softly interjected. Raj let out a heavy breath he seemed to be holding.

"What if I don't?" He quietly asked. Penny placed her head on his shoulder and hugged him with the arm that was wrapped around his shoulder.

"One day, you are going to find someone who is smart and beautiful and kind. I promise." Penny softly told him. She sat up straighter and looked around the table. She expected the table to be full of empty glasses. It wasn't.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Penny offered. Raj shook his head.

"No, I haven't had a drink since yesterday." Raj confessed as he wiped away a tear that escaped onto his cheek. Penny's eyes grew wide. Raj quickly met her gaze with his own wide-eyed expression. Penny grinned at Raj who opened his mouth to speak but then closed it.

"You're talking to me!" Penny said out of disbelief. Raj nodded.

"Yeah, I guess I am." He replied, still stunned. Penny let out a laugh that she had been holding in and Raj couldn't help but laugh with her. He smiled and pressed his palms into his knees.

"Penny, thank you for talking with me." He said as he stood up. His disposition was dramatically improved and Penny felt great about helping a friend in need.

"No Raj, thank you for talking with me." Penny countered. Raj grinned.

She watched as he turned on his heel and walked into the crowd of wealthy benefactors and smart scientists. She sunk into the uncomfortable conference room chair and smiled to herself. Raj talked to her. Without liquor. Penny contemplated going back to see what Sheldon was doing but she spotted him with another older man. He was quite a bit shorter than Sheldon, dark grey hair, and round glasses. Penny watched them talk as if they were old friends. Her stealthy voyeurism was interrupted by someone looming beside her chair.

"Well, If it isn't Woxanne." Kripky said beside her.

Penny felt his words glide over her like a thick slime that she wouldn't be able to wash off for days. She had only met Barry a handful of times, none of them were pleasant. Penny cringed and she looked up at him. He was wearing a black suit jacket over a blue t-shirt and a pair of faded blue jeans. He was mindlessly chewing on a toothpick and eying her up like a prime cut of meat. Penny swallowed at the terrible taste on the back of her tongue that his introduction left behind.

"Might I say you are looking smokin' hot." Barry stated while staring at the hem of her black dress. His eyes lingered on her thighs and Penny felt her skin crawl.

"I was actually just leaving." Penny said as she stood up. Barry quickly grasped her wrist to stop her.

"Wait, at weast wet me get you a dwrink." Barry suggested.

Penny felt his thumb press into her wrist. She frowned. Penny looked over and saw Sheldon coming toward them. Barry noticed too and let go of Penny. He let out an exasperated sigh and defensively crossed his arms over his chest. Penny felt relieved, but also tense. She wasn't sure what Sheldon was going to say. He wasn't good with confrontation, but she could see that he was angry. It was like when she stole his washing machines on laundry night and he threw her clothing onto a telephone wire. Penny quietly held her breath and watched the scene unfold before her.


	22. Chapter 22

**Hi friends!**

**I don't mean any offense in my German accent. It's tough to type with an accent. Hopefully I did it a little bit of justice.  
**

**Reviews, follows, and favourites are greatly appreciated.  
**

**Enjoy!**

"So you see, your monetary contribution would allow me to further researching my hypothesis." Sheldon stated. Doctor Pruitt nodded in agreement. Sheldon hated begging for money, he thought it was so demeaning. He also really disliked making small talk with strangers, never mind explaining his extensive life's work to them. Doctor Pruitt's attention shifted momentarily to Penny who was staring at the lapel of his jacket.

"And what do you make of Doctor Cooper's hypothesis?" He asked her. Penny continued to absentmindedly stare. Sheldon shifted uncomfortably in his spot as he waited for Penny to reply to the question. She didn't, she continued staring. Slightly embarrassed, Sheldon cleared his throat and Penny looked up, half-dazed.

"Oh, yes. Totally." She stammered out. Doctor Pruitt chuckled, turning his bright eyes to Sheldon. The laugh lines on his face prominently stood out and he smiled. The sound of him laughing was a minor relief.

"She's quite funny Doctor Cooper." He commented. Sheldon nodded in agreement, unsure what else to do.

"Sheldon Sweetie, I'm going to sit down for a minute." Penny told him. Sheldon offered her a small smile. He watched as she said goodbye, extending her hand to the man who stood across from him. He also watched as Doctor Pruitt pressed his lips to the back of her hand rather than shaking it. As she walked away from them, he hoped that she would use the hand sanitizer he gave her when their evening began.

Sheldon continued his talk with the thoracic surgeon, and without further convincing, Doctor Pruitt agreed to give a generous donation to the physics department. Sheldon looked through the faces of the crowd and tried to find Penny amongst them. He would hate to leave her alone, as she specifically ask that he didn't. His eyes caught a glimpse of her by the buffet, not-so-gracefully stuffing a shrimp into her mouth while talking to Amy. Among the rich patrons and the scientists, she stood out like neon sign among white Christmas tree lights. Before he could move to join her in her conversation, he was interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Guten abend, Docktor Cooper." The man said in a heavy German accent. Sheldon turned around and was face-to-face to his former colleague from the Heisenberg Institute in Germany, Doctor Von Braun. When Sheldon was a visiting professor, at the age of fifteen, Doctor Von Braun was in his early forties. He was considerably older now. His hair was grey, almost white and there were visible lines around his aging face.

"Professor Von Braun, what are you doing here?" Sheldon stammered the question out, still in minor disbelief. The older man slightly shook his head in disappointment.

"Tsk tsk, Sheldon." He said wagging a finger at Sheldon.

"Vat happened to your German? Did you forget already?" He chided. Sheldon felt like a child being scolded for not rinsing his dishes in the sink. He opened his mouth to interject that he had in fact _not_ forgotten how to speak German, but was quickly interrupted.

"I'm here, assisting Docktor Gablehauser in some research he is conducting. He mentioned you vorking here, so here I am. I sought vee could catch up?" He explained. Sheldon nodded.

"Professor-" Sheldon began, but was interrupted again.

"Please, Hans. Call me Hans." Hans offered. Sheldon nodded.

"Hans, I'm not one for banality, so if you don't mind, I have something that I need to attend to." Sheldon said in an attempt to escape the chit chat that was being forced upon him.

"I see you haven't changed." He said with a small smirk tugging at the corner of his thin lips.

"Fine." Hans said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Zee Institute vould be honored if you vould come back to teach. Zere is a von year contract vis zee Institute. If you're interested, zee position is yours." Hans generously offered. Sheldon stood there for a moment with his mouth gaping. Though the offer was tempting, he couldn't move to Germany for a year to teach. Everything he had was rooted in California. His home, friends, work, Penny. Everything was here. Sheldon cleared his throat.

"While your offer is generous, I simply can't." Sheldon said, turning down the proposal. Hans raised his eyebrow and offered him a smile.

"Sink about it." He said while reaching into his suit jacket and giving Sheldon his business card. Sheldon nodded as he took the card from Hans. He held it gently between his fingertips and as Hans walked away, he quickly read it over. It seemed that Hans was now the director of the Institute. Sheldon looked back up from the stiff card he held in his hands, but Hans was already gone.

He looked around the room and spotted Penny at the tables near the back of the room, Kripky loomed over her with a smarmy grin plastered on his face. Sheldon felt his stomach twist into a giant knot as his heart began to race. He was sure that he made it clear to him in his office many months ago that she wasn't interested in his advances. As he weaved through the crowd, avoiding brushing up against other people, he watched Barry grip Penny's wrist. Irritation flickered beneath the surface of his skin. Barry crossed his arms defensively over his chest and let out an exasperated sigh.

"What, Coopah?" Barry implored, his voice was thick with annoyance. Sheldon looked at Penny who lightly gripped at the wrist Barry grabbed. Sheldon swallowed at the lump in his throat that confrontation often left behind and looked Barry over.

"For starters, that is not how you treat a woman." Sheldon starkly replied while glancing at Penny's wrist for a split second. He cleared his throat and continued.

"Second, I have informed you thusly that Penny is not interested in you." He practically spat. Barry uncrossed his arms and dropped them to his side.

"And how would you know that?" Barry challenged sarcastically.

"Not that it's your business Kripky, but I know that this is factual because Penny is my girlfriend." Sheldon smugly retorted. Stunned only for a second, Barry laughed it off.

"Well I was just telling your "girlfwiend" how smoking hot she was." Barry mocked surrounding the word girlfriend with exaggerated air quotations. He defensively crossed his arms over his chest again. Sheldon felt the irritation bubble up past the surface of his skin. His face flushed and he licked at his dry lips.

"My girlfriend is _hot_?" Sheldon questioned. He glanced at Penny, who seemed slightly offended that he was questioning the validity of the original statement.

"You have a vast amount of adjectives in the English language to describe my girlfriend, and you choose _hot_?" Sheldon asked clarifying. Barry sputtered, looking desperately for words in his defense.

"You have done her a great disservice. Penny is far beyond beautiful. She's lovely, adorable, captivating, enticing, and radiant. She'll steal the breath from your lungs before you even have a chance to say hello. She's a spitfire that I can barely handle; I can assure you that you wouldn't stand even the slightest chance. Her intellect could tear yours to shreds, considering the one word you chose to describe her from thousands was _hot_." Sheldon continued.

Not once did he stutter, stammer, or make any hesitation while speaking. His words cut through the thick tension between them like a hot blade. He looked at Penny who was holding her hand gently over her heart. Her lips were parted, her face was flushed, and she looked astonished. Sheldon smiled at her, and offered her his hand. Penny returned his smile and obliged his request. Sheldon turned to Barry once more.

"It would be ill-advised to ever degrade Penny like that again." Sheldon casually warned, slightly narrowing his eyes at Barry. With that, Penny and Sheldon walked hand-in-hand through the small crowd that had gathered, leaving Barry gaping and grasping for something to say. They left the party and got into Penny's red car.

Their drive was silent, not an uncomfortable silence, but there was little to say. Sheldon's body still buzzed with adrenaline. He was successful in defending Penny's honor and that made him feel proud. Almost as proud as he felt when he built an armed robot using integrated circuits from ceramic semiconductor substrates to keep his contentious twin sister out of his room.

They arrived at their apartment building and sat in her car for a moment. Sheldon shifted in the passenger seat and took the sight of her in. Her hair was up in a low side bun, her make-up was tasteful, her lips were a soft velvety red. Her green eyes sparkled against the dim light of the street lamps. Her black strapless dress revealed a hint of cleavage, her chest softly pressed against the fabric of her dress when she inhaled. The hemline of her dress had risen only a couple of inches, but it was enough for Sheldon to leave his gaze lingering a moment longer than he should have. His gaze flitted up and met hers. She smiled at him.

"Let's go." She said with a slight nod toward the apartment building. Sheldon nodded his head in agreement and got out of her car.


	23. Chapter 23

**Hi friends,**

**Sorry for the late update. I'm going to be pretty busy this next week, so I will have an update for you the week of August 1. Reviews, follows, and favourites are greatly appreciated. Thank you everyone for you continued support and interest.  
**

**Enjoy!**

Apartment 4A was dark and quiet. The refrigerator's electric hum clicked off and the faint sound of vehicles occasionally passing on the street below filled the silence. Sheldon pulled the apartment door shut with an audible "click" as Penny flicked on the light switch next to the door, illuminating the living room. Penny placed her clutch and keys on the small table next to the entrance and made her way past the coffee table. Sheldon followed closely behind her as they made their way to his bedroom.

He quietly watched her as she stepped out of her heels, dropping her height by a few inches. As she abandoned her shoes in the middle of his floor, she reached into her hair and began pulling pins out of her low chignon. Her blonde hair fell into loose waves that effortlessly poured down her back like silk. Sheldon quickly closed the door behind him as Penny reached for the zipper on her little black dress.

Penny slowly pulled the zipper down her back and let the dress fall around her hips. After placing the hairpins that she held in her palm on the nightstand, Penny turned on his bed side lamp. Sheldon watched as she pulled out a tank top and a pair of shorts from the drawer of his nightstand and placed them on his bed. He couldn't help but smile to himself, he hated to admit it, but he liked the idea of her covertly hiding pajamas in his bedroom.

Penny unclasped her black strapless bra, letting it fall to the floor. As she pulled on her tank top, Sheldon couldn't help but watch the soft curve of her hips, his gaze settled on the graceful dip of her slender waist. She pushed her dress off her hips, letting it fall to the floor as she grabbed her pink checkered shorts off his bed. Penny turned around and blushed when she realized that Sheldon had been watching her. She flashed a wide grin at him while she pulled on her shorts.

"What?!" She demanded as she shyly looked to the floor. Sheldon quickly shook his head, and swallowed at the words stuck in his throat. Sheldon took a few steps toward her, before he glanced at the black stilettos she had left in the middle of his floor. Penny followed his gaze and her grin softened.

"Sorry." Penny mumbled as she picked up her shoes.

"No, it's not that." Sheldon interjected as he took her shoes, placing them neatly beside his dresser. He placed his hand on her bare shoulder, allowing his thumb to move in a slow circular pattern along her soft skin.

"Penny, what I said earlier this evening, I want you to know that what I said wasn't in jest." Sheldon said, his voice resonated deep within his chest. Penny's eyes darted across his face.

"In English?" She quietly pleaded. Sheldon cleared his throat.

"I meant what I said, Penny." Sheldon clarified. Penny cocked her head to the side and softly smiled.

"I know, Sweetie." Penny replied, her voice came out just above a whisper. She pressed her body against his and wrapped her arms around his slim waist. He breathed in her green apple scented hair and pulled her in close. They stood in his dimly lit bedroom in a silent embrace for a few moments before Penny pulled away and got into his bed. She pulled the covers over her legs and sat with her back against the headboard. Sheldon took off his suit jacket, placed it on a wooden hanger and hung it in his closet. As he walked back to his dresser, he felt Penny's eyes on him. He glanced at her and she smirked.

"Stop that." He gently scolded as he loosened his tie. Penny innocently raised her eyebrows at him.

"Stop what?" She asked as her took off his tie. Her eyes flitted to his hands while they worked at the neat Windsor knot.

"You're watching me." He accused. Sheldon placed his tie on his dresser and undid the top button of his shirt, revealing the collar of his white undershirt.

"So?" Penny retorted. His gaze fell to her mouth as she gently bit at her bottom lip. Sheldon frowned.

"It's unnerving." He confessed as he took out his plaid pajamas from his dresser.

"You watched me undress. Why can't I ogle you when you take off your clothes?" Penny questioned in an amused tone. Sheldon felt at a loss for words. He let out an exasperated sigh and quickly began unbuttoning his dress shirt.

"You're taking all the fun out of it." Penny complained. Sheldon rolled his eyes at her as he unbuckled his belt.

"Here. I'll show you." Penny said as she popped up onto her knees. Her fingers lightly gripped the hem of her tank top, she began slowly pulling up her shirt, exposing her toned stomach. Sheldon watched as her fingers let go of the hem of her shirt, letting it fall back down. Penny closed her eyes while her hands gently cupped her breasts, a sigh escaped her lips as she gently pulled at her nipples through her thin shirt. Her hands left the soft swell of her chest, her fingertips lightly traced along her neck and disappeared into her golden locks.

"Teasing goes a long way Sheldon." Penny flirted as her eyes fluttered open. She slowly ran her fingers back down her body, lightly resting them on her thighs. Sheldon stared at her with wide eyes. His tongue darted out to moisten his lips and he opened his mouth to speak. Nothing came out. Penny smiled when she noticed his obvious erection pressing against his slacks and patted at the bed beside her.

Sheldon obliged her request and knelt down on the firm mattress. Penny cupped his cheek and softly kissed his lips. His hands fell to her hips and he absentmindedly played with the hem of her shirt. Sheldon's breath hitched in his throat when she gently grasped at his hardness through the fabric of his pants. Penny smiled into their kiss as she ran her fingers up his abdomen to his shoulders. Sheldon assisted her when she began pushing his dress shirt off of his shoulders. Penny tossed his shirt to the floor and ran her fingers along his almost bare bicep. Sheldon shuddered. Penny sat back on the bed and took off Sheldon's belt. By the time the metal belt buckle hit the floor, Sheldon was crawling in between her legs.

"Tell me again why I'm not _hot_." Penny teased as Sheldon softly pressed his lips against her neck. Penny's fingertips traced along the back of his neck as he peppered her throat with soft kisses.

"This isn't the Jersey Shore." He whispered against her soft skin. He intended his joke to be more audible, and slightly more sarcastic but when she gently ran her nails down his back, he seemingly lost his voice. Still, Penny laughed. It was a cute giggle that escaped her throat, Sheldon smiled as he continued to kiss her neck.

"C'mon. Be serious." Penny chided. Sheldon pushed her tank top to the side and kissed her shoulder. He glanced up and caught her gaze. He green eyes were intense and bright, despite the dim light.

"Well, for starters" He said before pressing his lips to her clavicle. "You're absolutely gorgeous. You're funny. You're smart." He listed off in between kisses that ran down her chest to the top of her breast.

"You're alluring." He quietly continued as he pushed up her shirt, exposing her stomach. He could see that her breathing was shallow and quick. Her chest quickly rose and fell with every breath she took. Penny sucked in a sharp breath as he took her hip bone into his mouth. He gently bit at her hip, causing her to squirm underneath him. His fingers hooked into her shorts and he gently tugged them down her legs.

"You're wet." He definitively told her as he dipped a finger into her wetness. Penny gasped as he worked a second finger into her. Sheldon brought his lips to her thigh and darted his tongue out against her skin. Penny's scent was intoxicating. He wanted nothing more than to have her on his tongue.

Penny sighed when Sheldon gently pressed his lips to her slick folds. He licked his lips and tasted her on the tip of his tongue. She tasted sweet and musky. He removed his fingers from her and pushed her thighs apart. Penny squirmed underneath him and let out a desperate moan as he gently sucked on her. Penny's hands ran through Sheldon's short hair as he continued to kiss and tease her in her most intimate spot.

Sheldon's phone rang. Startled, he looked up at Penny. He hated leaving a phone unanswered.

"Let it go to voice mail." Penny pleaded as she propped herself up on her elbows. Her cheeks were flushed a deep red and her hair was a wild mess of waves.

Sheldon's phone rang again. He glanced over to his dresser where he left his phone. Sheldon reluctantly nodded his head and tried to ignore the incessant beckoning of his phone. Penny's head fell back when his tongue met her wetness. He dipped two fingers into her and ran them along her g-spot. Penny cried out as his phone rang for the third and final time. Sheldon soon pushed out the distraction of wanting to see who called, and instead worked at giving Penny the release she craved.

"Please don't stop." She begged as she clutched at the sheets. Sheldon conceded and continued to suck on her while his fingers worked her over. Penny cried out and he felt her tighten around his fingers. Her back arched and her leg began to involuntarily spasm. Sheldon pulled away from Penny as she sank into the mattress. He stood up and looked at her. She was out of breath and lying still on his bed. Sheldon changed out of his white crew neck t-shirt and dress pants and changed into the plaid pajamas that he had taken out previously. He glanced at Penny who had pulled up her shorts and curled up under the blankets.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth." Sheldon reminded her as he grabbed his phone from his dresser and made his way toward the bathroom. Before pulling out his toothbrush and brushing his teeth, he checked his missed call. He had expected it to be Hans asking him if he had reconsidered the offer, instead, it was Sheldon's sister Missy who had called.

He stood in front of the bathroom sink in deep thought. Why did his sister call? It couldn't have been important, otherwise she would have left a message. Perhaps she misdialed. Sheldon shrugged off the missed call and proceeded with the rest of his bed time routine. After brushing his teeth, he grabbed the pink toothbrush he left in his medicine cabinet for Penny, setting it on the edge of the sink for her. He smiled when he caught himself wondering what other items Penny had secretly stowed away in his apartment.


	24. Chapter 24

**Enjoy! **

Before she could register what was happening, Penny was being woken up at an ungodly hour because Sheldon was knocking over his alarm clock, tossing his blankets onto her face and running out of his bedroom. Penny rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and glanced at his sideways alarm clock that wasn't scheduled to go off for another half hour. It was 5:30 in the morning. Someone was loudly banging on the front door and Sheldon was yelling that he was coming. She sat still in his bed, listening to the muffled conversation going on at the front door.

It sounded like he was upset. She couldn't tell what he was saying, but she knew it wasn't good. Then she heard a woman's voice. She said a few words and then broke down crying. Penny quickly got out of bed, threw on the plaid robe that Sheldon left behind and walked into the hallway. Penny slowly crept down the hallway in her bare feet, the voices became more clear as she moved in closer. As she stepped into the kitchen she was met with a familiar face.

"Missy." Penny said, clearly taken by surprise. Missy looked up at Penny, tears streaked her face. Sheldon stood awkwardly with his arms by his side. He wore his Sunday pajamas that matched Penny's borrowed robe. Missy quickly wiped at her wet cheeks with the back of her hand and looked to the ground as she crossed her arms over her chest. Penny could see that she was still very pregnant, her due date couldn't be more than a few weeks away. Penny had a lingering suspicion that bitterly sat at the back of her throat.

"Missy, what are you doing here?" Penny asked, taking a few cautious steps toward her. Missy's eyes welled up with tears and she dropped her arms to the side. She took a sharp breath inward and tears spilled onto her cheeks.

"Oh Shelly, I'm so sorry." She apologized as she tried to hold back a sob. Sheldon looked at Penny, silently begging her to decode the situation for him.

"I just had nowhere else to go." Missy explained. Her breath hitched in her throat. Missy walked into the living room and sat down in Sheldon's spot on the couch, clutching the throw pillow to her chest. Penny followed and sat down beside Missy on the brown leather sofa. Sheldon opened his mouth to object to Missy sitting in his spot, but Penny quickly cut him off.

"Sheldon, sit." She bluntly told him motioning to the white armchair. Sheldon raised his hand, likely in a formal protest, but Penny shot him a fiery look, causing him to sit in the armchair without further protest. Penny turned her attention to Missy.

"Missy, what happened?" Penny asked. Missy took in a deep breath.

"It's Carson." Missy confessed. Penny swallowed the lump in her throat.

"I caught him cheatin' on me." Missy said as she wiped at her tears.

"He told me it was my fault and that I had driven him into her arms. He told me that it was impossible to be attracted to me anymore." Missy looked over at Sheldon who was fighting off a twitch that threatened taking over the left side of his face, and back over to Penny.

"I told him that we were done. I told him that I never wanted to see him again and when I told him I was leaving him, he.." Missy trailed off. She quickly looked at the floor and bit at her lips to keep herself from sobbing.

"What did he do?" Penny softly asked. She knew how these types of men worked. She knew that Missy needed to be somewhere safe. Missy shook her head and looked at Penny.

"He said that if I left, he would find me and he would make sure I regretted it." Missy spat. She frowned as she looked back to the floor. Penny looked at Sheldon, she could tell he was angry, but he was also uncomfortable with the sudden turn of events.

"I just, I didn't know where to go, so I hopped in my truck and now two and a half days later, here I am." Missy explained, throwing her hands into the air. She quickly buried her face in her hands and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Missy?" Sheldon asked, interrupting the silence that fell over the room. She looked up at her brother.

"You're clearly distressed, I can make you some tea, or maybe you'd like a cup of hot water with lemon. Oh! I think I might have a packet of beef bouillon somewhere." Sheldon spout off as he scrambled to remove himself from the uncomfortable situation that had been thrust upon him.

"Sweetie, your sister doesn't want beef bouillon, it's five in the morning." Penny reminded him as he rummaged through his cupboards. Missy looked at the two of them, she quickly shook her head and got up.

"I'm sorry Shelly, I don't mean to put you out like this, I'll just go check into a hotel. Don't worry about the tea." Missy rambled.

"So it's settled. Missy will stay in a hotel, and we can attempt to sleep for another thirteen minutes before my alarm is scheduled to go off." Sheldon proclaimed in a weak attempt of tying to regain control over the situation. Missy tried to shuffle past Penny, but she quickly stood up and guided Missy to sit back down in Sheldon's spot on the couch. Penny glanced up and he quietly motioned for her to move Missy out of his spot. Penny ignored him. Instead she briskly walked into the kitchen and stood very close in front of Sheldon.

"What do you think you're doing?" Penny quietly hissed through gritted teeth. She glanced back at Missy and flashed a quick smile. She turned back to Sheldon and her smile faded into an icy stare.

"I was.. I thought the situation was settled." Sheldon stammered. Penny almost wanted to pity him. He really didn't have a clue.

"Sheldon, she is your sister. She's not going to stay at a hotel." Penny firmly told him. Sheldon's brows furrowed together.

"If she's not going to stay at a hotel, where do you suggest she stay?" Sheldon asked, his voice dripping with condescension. Penny quickly glanced back at Sheldon's pregnant sister for a moment.

"Here. She can stay here." Penny said, very sure of her answer.

"Oh I hardly think so." Sheldon protested, almost amused with her suggestion. Penny crossed her arms across her chest.

"Why not?" Penny questioned trying to keep her voice down.

"Penny. This is a two bedroom apartment. Where do you suggest she sleep? The couch doesn't have adequate lumbar support to accommodate a pregnant woman's needs." Sheldon pointed out.

"Why don't _you_ sleep on the couch?" Penny offered. Sheldon looked at her like she was a child who didn't know any better.

"Oh, no. I don't think so." Sheldon protested with disgust.

"Why not?" Penny asked she tried to mask her annoyance with a smile.

"Because I sleep in a bed, Penny." Sheldon argued. Penny sighed.

"Fine. Then you can come stay with me." She said, she felt herself smile at the thought. Sheldon frowned.

"No." He firmly said. Her smile quickly faded.

"Oh my god, Sheldon, why!?" She pressed, her annoyance with him clearly on display.

"I'm not leaving my sister alone in my apartment with Leonard." He told her. Penny remembered the last time Missy came to stay. She ended up spending the day at her house because the guys wouldn't stop hounding Missy. And while Leonard was in a relationship with Amy Farrah Fowler, Penny nodded in agreement.

"Good point." She replied. Sheldon's mouth quirked up into a small smile, as if to let her know that he bested her. Penny quickly thought about the alternatives. There were hotels, but family shouldn't have to stay in hotels when they were in town. Missy could stay here, but Sheldon clearly didn't want to give up his bed. The next thought that popped into her head made her grin like a madman.

"Oh, I've got it!" She nearly shouted.

"How about Missy stays at my apartment and I can come stay with you!" Penny excitedly suggested. Sheldon hesitantly looked over at Missy. Penny could tell that he was thinking about any other possible alternative.

"Penny, I don't-" He started.

"Sheldon, she's your sister and she needs someone right now. I promise I'll follow your rules or whatever. Please?" Penny asked. She stuck out her bottom lip into a pout. After a moment's consideration, Sheldon rolled his eyes at her.

"Fine."

"Really?" Penny asked. She couldn't stop the grin from spreading on her face.

"Yes, but this arrangement is contingent on you following my rules and it's only until Missy can get back on her feet." Sheldon told her. Penny didn't care. She was moving in, temporarily anyway. She would follow any stupid rule he gave her.

Penny watched as Sheldon brought his sister a cup of tea and offered their arrangements to her. Missy couldn't help but smile, get to her feet, and wrap her arms around her brother. Sheldon stood there awkwardly with his hands hovering over Missy's back. Penny smiled. Leonard cleared his throat as he stood beside Penny.

"Why are you guys up so early?" He asked took off his glasses and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He put back on his glasses and looked over at Sheldon's sister hugging him.

"Why is Missy here? What's going on?" He quickly asked. Penny smiled at Leonard.

"It's kind of a long story, but say hello to your new roommate." Penny said with a grin. Leonard looked at Missy, who had let go of Sheldon and was now on the phone, calling her mom.

"Missy's moving in? Where is Shel-" Leonard started. Penny shook her head.

"No genius, I'm moving in." Penny clarified as she crossed her arms across her chest. Leonard quickly nodded before turning around on his heel and leaving the kitchen.

She couldn't believe it. She was moving into 4A. It wasn't like she hadn't stayed with Sheldon for an extended period of time before, but she never considered herself to be _living _with him. It was definitely going to be an adjustment, and she was probably going to be conned into signing one of Sheldon's crazy contracts, but in her mind it was totally worth it. She could follow a few rules, couldn't she?


	25. Chapter 25

**Enjoy! (Sorry for the hiatus)**

After spending the last half hour helping Missy settle into her apartment, Penny provided her with a spare key, clean sheets, and a handful of delivery menus. Missy expressed her gratitude with a tight hug, and Penny left so that Missy could have a quick nap. An infectious grin snuck onto her face as she walked across the hall and placed her hand on the door handle for apartment 4A. She still in disbelief that Sheldon agreed to let her live with him.

She walked into her new, but very familiar home and spotted Leonard and Sheldon in the kitchen. Leonard was sitting at the kitchen island reviewing a document and eating toast, and Sheldon was standing across from Leonard, micromanaging his progress. As she moved closer to them, she could see another document sitting on the kitchen island. Penny frowned. She knew it was for her.

"What's this?" Penny asked, even though she was well aware of what it was. She picked up the roommate agreement and leafed through the pages. She noticed a few words as the pages turned, mostly because they were so ridiculous. Zombie, robot, and "confirmation sniff" almost made her laugh. Instead she remained composed, glancing up at Sheldon as he poured hot water from the kettle into his mug.

"It's our roommate agreement." Sheldon told her. He and Leonard shared a look that suggested she was a blonde monkey. Penny pointedly ignored it.

"Obviously, I know what it is Sheldon. Why are you making me sign it?" Penny asked, trying her best to curb the irritation that she felt bubbling up as she gently placed the papers back on the island. Sheldon dunked his chamomile tea bag into his steaming yellow mug and glanced up at her. His clear blue eyes darted across her face, settling on her pursed lips.

"A half hour ago, you conceded that this arrangement was contingent on agreeing to my rules. These are my rules." Sheldon reminded her while momentarily glancing at the papers. Penny rolled her eyes and looked at Leonard. He brushed his hand through his wavy brown hair and offered her an empathetic smile.

"Trust me, it's easier to sign the papers than it is to argue with him." Leonard offered as he brought his coffee mug to his lips.

"We didn't need a relationship agreement, why do we need a stupid roommate agreement?" Penny whined as she turned her attention back to Sheldon. He frowned from behind his mug full of chamomile tea.

"I can assure you that having a set of guidelines that outline day to day conduct in this apartment isn't _stupid_." Sheldon defensively replied. Penny glanced down at the agreement and flipped to a page at random. She skimmed down about halfway until something ridiculous caught her eye.

"_Body Snatchers Clause: Roommates are to assist Sheldon destroy someone who they know has been replaced by an alien pod._ How is this day to day conduct?!" Penny asked in disbelief. Sheldon turned his eyes to the floor and shifted his weight onto one foot.

"It could happen." He quietly argued. Penny huffed and flipped to another random page.

"_Section 74C: Leonard must assist Sheldon if he ever becomes a robot._" Penny read from the agreement.

"Actually, that already happened." Leonard reminded Penny.

She looked at Sheldon who had a smug look on his face. It was true, it did already happen. Penny had almost forgotten about Shel-bot.

"Fine, Sheldon, whatever." She said, the annoyance dripped from her words. She pursed her lips together and reluctantly grabbed the blue fountain pen that sat on top of Leonard's modified agreement. Penny quickly scrawled her name along the dotted line on the last page of her agreement like she was selling her voice to an evil sea witch. Leonard stood up and grabbed his mug half filled with coffee and put his plate full of crumbs in the sink.

"Welcome to 4A, roomie." Leonard said with a quick raise of his mug as he walked past her.

Penny watched as he continued walking down the hallway toward his bedroom. She turned to Sheldon who was flipping through the agreement that she had just signed, clearly satisfied with the outcome. When his eyes met her narrowed gaze, the arrogant smile that tugged at the corners of his lips faded.

Sheldon placed the papers on the island and clasped his hands in front of him. Penny took a couple of steps closer to him. Her chest lightly grazed his as she stood on her tip toes. She was still a few inches away from being eye level, but she still felt like it gave her more leverage.

"I may have agreed to your rules, but you agreed to my chaos." Penny said in an attempt to jog his eidetic memory. She placed a quick kiss on his lips and moved away from him.

"Rules were meant to be broken, Sheldon." Penny said with a quick raise of her eyebrows before she stalked off to his bedroom.

o.o.o.o.o

Sheldon shifted in his bed, reaching across the mattress for Penny, only he was met with cool sheets. He gently rubbed at the sleep in his eye as he sat propped up on his elbow. The faint sound of the shower and the muffled sound of music interrupted the quiet stillness of his bedroom. Sheldon's alarm went off and he quickly stifled it. He swiftly got out of bed and marched down the hallway to the bathroom.

It had been just over a week since Penny had moved in with Sheldon. She'd already broken thirty-seven of his rules. He'd given her strikes, but they'd been blatantly ignored. This morning he would be issuing her thirty-eighth strike. He proceeded to knock on the door calling out her name after the third knock.

_Knock Knock Knock_

"Penny?" He called out over the sound of the shower and the twang of country music playing from her phone.

_Knock Knock Knock_

"Penny?" He called out a bit louder.

"What?" Her reply was muffled and slightly drowned out.

_Knock Knock Knock_

"Penny?" He asked a final time before starting a second round of knocks.

"Sheldon, I can barely hear you. Come in, it's unlocked." Penny replied.

Sheldon hesitantly gripped at the door handle, twisted it and pushed into the steamy bathroom. The steam settled around him like a thick fog. He quickly switched on the bathroom fan after turning off the familiar Garth Brooks song that was blaring from her phone.

"Hey!" Penny cried out as she pulled back the shower curtain and popped her head out.

Her blonde hair was full of green apple scented suds and thick droplets of water rested on her dark lashes. Sheldon watched a bead of water drip onto her clavicle and run down her chest, disappearing behind the periodic table shower curtain that she clutched against her. He quickly darted his eyes up to meet hers.

"Penny, you've disrupted the bathroom schedule." Sheldon complained, his voice came out hoarse.

"Yeah, well this isn't a bathroom emergency, so get out." Penny retorted with a smile. Sheldon let out a small sigh of exasperation as Penny shut the curtain and continued with her shower.

"Judging by the steam that has accumulated in here, I'm also going to assume that there isn't an adequate supply of hot water for me to shower. That's a direct violation of Addendum J. I'm going to have to give you another strike, Penny." Sheldon warned.

Penny popped her head out from behind the curtain again. This time, the suds had disappeared from her blond hair. She absentmindedly held the curtain a little bit lower, the curve of her breast pressed lightly against the vinyl fabric. Sheldon felt himself grow harder in his pajama bottoms at the sight of her barely covered wet body. Penny noticed and grinned. Slightly embarrassed, he shifted his gaze to the elements displayed on the curtain. Sheldon picked one at random and began reciting its properties in his head. Element 54, Xe, Xenon, a trace gas in the Earth's atmosphere, used in xenon lamps which are used excite the active medium in lasers, generating-.

"Well if you're so concerned about hot water, why don't you join me?" Penny cheekily asked, interrupting his thoughts. Sheldon cleared his throat and averted his gaze to the floor.

"Are there water-soluble aliens attacking you?" Sheldon asked. Penny laughed.

"What?! No!" She chuckled. Her green eyes lit up with mischief. Sheldon felt a smile tug at his lips for a split second.

"Then I'm afraid the maximum occupancy of the shower will have to remain at one." He said, slightly disappointed.

"I'm willing to break the rules if you are. You can add a strike to the other billion you gave me." Penny offered.

"It's actually thirty-seven." Sheldon said while quickly glancing back up at her. Penny playfully bit at her bottom lip.

"Maybe there is some way I can work a couple of them off?" Penny suggested. Her eyes momentarily flitted to his obvious erection. She softly smiled and met his gaze.

"You're call." She said with an easy shrug, once again disappearing behind the shower curtain.

Sheldon didn't know if it was the humidity or his aroused state of mind that was affecting his judgment in regards to bathroom policies, but before he knew it, he was undressed, and in direct violation of Addendum J. Sheldon climbed into the shower and Penny wrapped her arms around his waist pressing her warm, wet body against his. She peppered soft kisses across his broad chest as she slowly ran her fingernails across his back and lightly scratched at his backside. He shuddered and felt his arousal softly pulse against her stomach.

Penny continued her kisses down his abdomen as she brought herself to her knees. Sheldon turned the shower head toward the wall, so the water wouldn't interfere with their intimate activities. She firmly grasped his manhood and slowly pumped her hand up and down his length. Water droplets fell from her wet hair onto her shoulders and gravity took hold of them pulling them down her soft curves. Penny's soft velvety tongue swirled around him before she took him into her mouth. Sheldon closed his eyes and a heavy groan escaped his softly parted lips. Sheldon's delighted sigh turned into a surprised gasp when she pulled away from him, lightly grazing her teeth along his shaft as she sat back on her heels.

Her eyes sparkled like emeralds when she glanced up at him. Sheldon smiled down at her and lightly cupped her cheek. Penny smiled back and took him back into her hot, wet mouth. Before becoming intimate with Penny, the thought of what Penny was doing with her mouth repulsed him. The way his friends described it made him never want to engage in the activity, but with Penny it was different. The quiet reassurance in her actions allowed him to be vulnerable in ways he had never thought possible. It was the kind of intimacy he had never thought he wanted, but since having it, he unconsciously craved it.

Sheldon sucked in a lungful of air as Penny pulled him deeper into her mouth. She moaned and it sent vibrations up his spine, into his brain, rendering him intellectually useless. As she continued slowly sucking, she lightly gripped his balls. The heat of the shower and Penny's mouth on him made him feel dizzy. His breath was shallow and fast, he felt for a moment like he couldn't breathe. Without warning, she barely scraped her teeth along his swollen member.

"_Oh god_…" Sheldon incoherently whispered as his orgasm hit him. A flash of violent heat tore through him, licking across his skin like a wildfire. His hips bucked forward as he came on her tongue. Penny pulled him in closer and graciously swallowed his offering. He felt light. His body and his mind, both lighter than air. His cool blue eyes fluttered open as Penny returned to her feet. She grinned at him before pulling open the shower curtain and grabbing her towel from the rack.

"Did you want me to reciprocate?" Sheldon sheepishly asked as Penny stepped out of the shower onto the bath mat.

"As much as I would love that, I have to go. I have to be at my agent's office in L.A. by 8:30. Sorry sweetie." Penny told him as she towel dried her hair. Sheldon nodded as she wrapped the fuzzy towel around her body. Sheldon waited a moment for her to leave before shutting the curtain and quickly rinsing off. He was already running behind schedule and decided that pumicing the soles of his feet could wait until tomorrow morning. After hurrying through his haphazard morning schedule, he knocked on Leonard's door.

_Knock knock knock_

"Leonard."

_Knock knock knock_

"Leonard."

_Knoc-_

His third knock was interrupted by Leonard opening the door and greeting Sheldon with an icy stare. Sheldon continued his knock by gently tapping on the door jamb twice with his knuckles.

"What?" Leonard impatiently prodded. Sheldon still felt the need to finish his knock, even though he wanted to ask why Leonard wasn't ready to go.

"Leonard." He quietly said, finishing his knocking routine.

"What Sheldon?" Leonard impatiently asked.

"It's time to leave, why aren't you ready?" Sheldon asked, almost fearful that his roommate had succumbed to some deathly illness.

"I'm taking a personal day, Sheldon." Leonard explained. Sheldon gave him a puzzled look.

"But we don't get personal days." Sheldon argued.

"Tenured employees do." Leonard said with a quick raise of his eyebrows.

"But you aren't a tenured employee." Sheldon persisted. He felt panicked once he realized he was going to be late for work.

"Yes, Sheldon, I am. They offered me the job at the fundraiser." Leonard confessed. Sheldon stood in front of his roommate slightly shocked. He didn't get the job, Leonard did. Sheldon was sure there was an administrative error, but the words failed to come out.

"Oh, I see." Was all he could muster. He swallowed the uncomfortable lump in his throat and shifted in the spot he was standing in.

"Have a good day Sheldon." Leonard said before closing the door. As Sheldon stood in front of his roommates bedroom door bewildered, the realization that he didn't have a ride to work suddenly hit him.

"Leonard?" He called through the door.

"What?" His muffled voice called back. Sheldon fidgeted with the strap of his messenger bag for a second.

"How am I supposed to get to work?" He childishly asked. Leonard was quick to reply.

"You'll have to figure it out." He called to Sheldon, probably from underneath the warmth of his blankets.

Sheldon let out a soft sigh and pulled his phone out from his pocket while he turned on his heel and walked to the kitchen. He opened up his contacts and clicked on the first name he could think of and held the phone to his ear. He listened to the line ring three times before the recipient of the call picked up.

_"Hello?" _Raj asked.

"Raj, it's Sheldon. You have to pick me up. Leonard isn't driving me to work." Sheldon quickly explained as he quickly glanced at his watch.

_"Dude, I'm already at work." _Raj whined. Sheldon took in a deep breath and did something he didn't think he would ever do.

"Please?" He asked. Sheldon swallowed his pride and asked a friend for help instead of demanding it. The line was silent for a second before Raj cleared his throat.

_"Okay, fine. I'll be there soon."_ Raj told him. Sheldon let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Thank you." He said, ending their phone call.

He silently chastised himself. He was Sheldon Cooper, he did not show vulnerability to his friends. He was the Alpha male in their group. Suddenly, he was regretting his moment of weakness. What was living with Penny doing to him? He was constantly being reminded that others have feelings and apparently her reminders were rubbing off on him. Was he going soft? Sheldon shook the thought out of his mind and waited in the stillness of his apartment for his friend to pick him up.


	26. Chapter 26

**Hey guys, sorry for the shortness of this chapter, but I have a few more updates on the way. So don't fret.**

**Enjoy!**

It was hard to remain still knowing he was going to be late for work. Sheldon fidgeted on the couch, absentmindedly playing with the strap of his messenger bag as he thought about all of the possible situations that could be keeping his friend. He glanced at his wrist watch and let out a heavy sigh. He quickly stood up and impatiently paced through the living room while he waited for Raj to arrive.

By his calculations of traffic patterns and possible routes that were likely taken, Raj was approximately three and a half minutes late, which meant that Sheldon was approximately twenty-one minutes late for work. He was so deep in thought that he practically jumped out of his skin when Raj loudly knocked on the door. He effortlessly walked across the living room in long strides and quickly answered the front door.

"You're late." Sheldon scolded as he pushed past Raj and closed the door behind him. Raj rolled his eyes at Sheldon as he pressed his key into the door and locked the deadbolt.

"No, you're late. You should be appreciative dude. Now, thanks to you, I'm late too." Raj said defending himself.

They quickly began their silent descent down the staircase toward Raj's car. The drive to the university was quiet. Raj declined Sheldon's request to play a car game with him and instead he put in a mixed CD with pop music from the 2000's. Sheldon asked Raj three times to turn down his music but was denied on the grounds of Raj feeling especially "bootylicious" today. When they arrived at work, the two men made their way to their respective offices.

After preparing his work for the day and starting up his laptop, Sheldon sat down at his desk and began checking his email. One in particular caught his eye. It was from Doctor Hans Von Braun, Director at the Heisenberg Institute in Germany. He was following up to see if Sheldon had given anymore thought to the offer that was presented to him.

He hadn't given it any thought. It wasn't until he read the email that he started to really think about it. He was certain that Penny wouldn't be interested in joining him, after all her acting career was finally taking off, even if it was just commercial work. He couldn't ask her to put her budding career on hold for a year and go with him to Germany. Could he? He promptly pushed the intruding thoughts out of his mind and instead focused on his draft for a publication in Physic Quarterly about black holes and the effect they had on the multiverse.

o.o.o.o.o

Lunch came quickly and soon he was sitting in the cafeteria pushing around his limp salad with his fork. He was half listening to his friends excitedly chat about the newest expansion deck for Mystic Warlords of Ka'a, but his mind was preoccupied with the email from Doctor Von Braun.

"So we're still on for tomorrow, right?" Howard asked as he stuffed a forkful of macaroni and cheese into his mouth. Sheldon glanced at Raj who uncomfortably shifted in his seat.

"Actually." Raj said clearing his throat.

"I can't make it tomorrow night." His gaze quickly shifted to his plate of food. Howard dropped his fork and pointedly turned to Raj.

"What?! Why?" He asked, sounding a bit hurt. Raj glanced up at Sheldon and Howard and a small smile spread across his lips.

"I kind of have a date." Raj confessed, fully grinning now. Sheldon set his fork down and shook his head at Raj.

"Just because you can miraculously talk to women without the aid of alcohol, doesn't mean you can chat them up, ask them out, and cancel plans that have been confirmed for weeks. As Howard has repeatedly expressed in the past, your allegiance should be to male comrades before women who sell their bodies for money." Sheldon rattled off. Howard gave him a puzzled look.

"I said 'bros before hoes', not whatever the hell you just said." Howard quickly replied in defense, faintly grimacing. Confused and slightly annoyed, Sheldon looked at Howard and frowned.

"That's what I said. I was trying to avoid offending the hoes." Sheldon reiterated. Howard brushed off Sheldon's comment with a sideways glance.

"I'm just lonely. You have Bernadette, Leonard has Amy, and Sheldon has Penny. I have no one." Raj pouted. Sheldon and Howard both rolled their eyes.

"Okay, fine. Whatever. Just make sure your date is worth it." Howard told Raj, his eyebrows quickly shot up into the brown hair that swept across his forehead, as a smarmy smile pulling at his lips.

"Dude, it's not like that with her, okay?" Raj complained, frowning.

"Fine, fine, fine." Howard said raising his hands in the air and waving them dismissively.

"All I'm saying is if she orders the steak and lobster, you'd better get more than a kiss good night." Howard said with the same smarmy grin plastered on his face. Sheldon couldn't help the look of disdain that took over his relaxed face at his friend's remark. He cleared his throat and steered the conversation in another direction.

"With that unsettling mental image, I have nothing else to contribute to the conversation." Sheldon said pushing his plate away from him as if he's lost his appetite. Actually he did lose his appetite.

"Did you know that by train, the travel time from Munich, Germany to Geneva, Switzerland, is approximately 8 hours?" He started, changing the topic to something that had just recently been weighing on his conscience.

"That's where the Large Hadron Collider is located." He said pointedly to Howard. Howard scowled.

"I know where the Large Hadron Collider is." He mumbled in a sarcastic and mocking tone.

"What's your point?" Raj asked before taking a swig from his bottled water.

"My _point_ is, I have been presented with an opportunity to teach in Germany, and with the Large Hadron Collider practically a stone's throw away, as they say, I could change the face of theoretical physics." Sheldon said calmly with his eyebrows raised slightly. A small amused smile spread across his lips at the thought.

"Shut your ass!" Raj commanded. His eyes were wide with excitement.

"Yeah right, like they would let Doctor Crazy near the highest-energy particle collider ever made." Howard said derisively.

"Seriously though, you got a job offer in Germany?" Raj asked in disbelief. Sheldon gave him a look of condescension.

"Why wouldn't I be serious?" Sheldon pointedly asked. "You would know if I was joking by my use of the word 'Bazinga'." He continued.

"Well, are you going to take the job?" Howard asked with wide eyes and a low voice. Sheldon cleared his throat.

"I hadn't given it much thought. Besides," He continued. "The contract is only for a year and I'm not sure if the closer proximity to the Large Hadron Collider would be worth the interruption in my routine." Sheldon honestly replied as he glanced down at his forgotten lunch. He'd really only begun thinking about it this morning when he read the follow up email in his inbox.

"Dude." Raj said, grabbing his attention and pulling him away from his thoughts. "It's the Large Hadron Collider. Obviously it's worth it." He continued. Sheldon let out a soft sigh.

"I know." He wistfully replied as he longingly stared off into space. He imagined the weekend trips he could make to the LHC, how his brilliance would be revered and how he would change the theoretical physics community. He would be in science textbooks, he would be a laureate for the Noble Prize, he would be-.

"What does Penny think?" Howard casually asked, snapping Sheldon back to reality. Sheldon glanced at him and knitted his eyebrows together.

"What do you mean, 'What does Penny think'?" Sheldon questioned.

"You've have talked to her, right?" Howard asked with a quiet chuckle, like Sheldon should have known better.

"Why would I consult with Penny about the Large Hadron Collider?" Sheldon queried, gently cocking his head to the side.

"You should talk to her dude, maybe she would want to go with you." Raj said with a hopeful smile. Sheldon glanced at his watch. It was eight minutes to one o'clock. Unconsciously keeping with the theme of the day, Sheldon was running behind schedule.

"Well gentlemen, I'd love to carry on this titillating conversation, but I have to void my bladder." Sheldon quickly stated while standing up and grabbing his tray. Without a second thought, he left Raj and Howard at the table, disposing his tray, and walking out of the cafeteria toward the bathroom. He would talk to Penny eventually, he just needed to talk to her at the right time. There was no need to bring it up until he was sure if it was something he wanted to pursue or not.


	27. Chapter 27

**Enjoy! **

The gentle hum of the fridge filled the silence of the living room as Sheldon looked at his last hand of cards. It was almost nearing the end of their second play through of the newest expansion pack, and Sheldon was quickly strategizing his final moves. He already knew which cards had been played including the newly added cards. There were only three expansion pack cards left in play and Sheldon had two of them. It was his turn. He gripped one of his cards and laid it down on the coffee table.

"Abominable Snowman." Sheldon proclaimed with a small grin as he laid down his card. He knew that neither of his opponents could beat him. For a moment, he glanced at the spot that Raj normally occupied. He hated to admit it, but he actually kind of missed his childish banter. As Sheldon imagined Raj saying something derogatory about snowballs, Penny walked into the living room; her heels clicked softly against the hardwood floors.

Sheldon was pulled out of his thoughts and like the other two men, graciously gifted his attention to Penny. She looked absolutely stunning. A smile pulled at the corners of his lips as his eyes helplessly glided down her body. The strapless dress was a dark plum color, and the hemline hit her above the knees. Her hair fell into effortless waves that framed her soft features. Penny smiled when Sheldon looked up into her bright green eyes.

"Du siehst schön aus!" Howard managed to finally sputter. Sheldon urgently snapped his attention toward Howard, silently willing him to shut up. Howard's smile rescinded and his eyes fell to the ground as he cleared his throat.

"Was that German?" Penny asked, slightly taken aback. Sheldon nodded and decided to shift the conversation and Penny in a different direction. He still wasn't ready to tell her that he'd been offered a job in Germany.

"Yes, Howard was telling you that you look lovely, despite him being a happily married man. Sheldon replied, shooting a scathing look at Howard.

"Oh." Penny nodded as she walked through the living room.

"Well, thanks, Howard. Is there anything you want me to tell Bernadette? I'm meeting her and Amy for drinks." Penny offered, attempting to ease Howard's bruised ego. Howard replied with a sheepish grin.

"Just tell her that she looks lovely." He responded with shrugged shoulders. Penny gave him a small salute, quickly smiled at the boys, and disappeared out the door. Sheldon let out a small sigh of relief as he began collecting dishes from the coffee table and dissecting himself from the tense situation. Howard was quick to follow Sheldon in to the kitchen.

"You still haven't talked to her?" Howard questioned as Sheldon placed the glasses and bowls into the sink. He rolled up his sleeves and folded his arms across his broad chest, the muscles in his forearm tensed. He felt his jaw clench as he thought of an excuse he felt he didn't have to provide.

"Wait, told her what?" Leonard asked, tossing his cards down on the coffee table and joining the commotion in the kitchen. Sheldon felt like he was being backed into a corner.

"Sheldon was offered a teaching job in Germany and he hasn't told Penny about it." Howard prattled. He awkwardly bit at his bottom lip as Leonard scoffed.

"Oh please, Sheldon's not going to Germany." He quickly dismissed. Leonard crossed his arms and shifted his weight as he glanced up at Sheldon.

"Now hold on, why would you assume that I'm not going?" Sheldon defensively asked as he mirrored Leonard's stance. Leonard pretended to think for a moment, placing his index finger onto his chin and tapping twice before he spoke.

"Uh, let's see.. Well for starters, your routines and schedules would be completely compromised, you'd have to fly on a plane to get there, you hate giving lectures to students who aren't as brilliant as you are, and Penny probably doesn't want to move to Germany anyway." Leonard spouted off, his voice rising in pitch as he spoke. Sheldon presses his lips together.

"Well we don't know that Penny doesn't have any desire to relocate. I haven't asked her yet." Sheldon argued. Leonard rolled his eyes at his roommate.

"C'mon, Sheldon, you know you're not going, I know you're not going. Let's just get back to our game?" Leonard suggested, hoping to ease the tension Howard's offhanded comment created.

"You don't know that I'm _not_ going." Sheldon continued his argument. He hated being proved wrong, especially by his homunculus roommate. He cleared his throat.

"Who's to say that I haven't already accepted the position?" He smugly retorted. Howard looked between the two roommates with anticipation, the only thing he seemed to be missing was the popcorn.

"It doesn't need to be said by anyone, you haven't accepted the job." Leonard said, clearly becoming tired of the ongoing argument. Sheldon pulled out his phone from his pocket and opened his email. There sat his acceptance in draft form. He clicked on the email he drafted a week ago, his thumb hovered over the send button. He took in a lungful of air as his thumb met the touch screen of his smart phone. Even if there was suspicion that what he had just done was a huge mistake, his pride was un-battered and intact.

"Well, for your information, I have." Sheldon finalized as he stuffed his phone back into his pocket. His stomach was in a tight knot. Leonard threw his hands up into the air out of frustration.

"Whatever, Sheldon. Can we just finish our game?" He asked. Sheldon motioned for him to lead the way. Before they could settle back into their seats, Sheldon's phone was ringing. He stopped halfway between the kitchen and the couch and answered his phone.

"Hello?" He asked, even though the caller ID said it was Raj.

"_Hey._" Raj replied.

"I thought you were on a date." Sheldon asked. Before Raj could answer, Sheldon continued.

"Did it not go well?" He asked.

"_What?_" Raj sputtered.

"It's not surprising, just because you can _talk_ to women, doesn't mean your success with them is any better." Sheldonsardonically told him.

"_Dude, the date went fine. I think she really likes me. Look, I'm calling because something happened._" Raj began. Sheldon furrowed his brow.

"What do you mean something's happened, and why would you be calling me? I don't have a car to rush to your aid, nor do I have relevant experience with dating mishaps. Furthermore, I'm not sure that I really care." Sheldon rattled off. Raj let out a sigh of exasperation.

"_Fine, Sheldon. I'm going to tell you something, but you have to promise to not be mad._" Raj explained; hesitation shook his voice.

"How can I promise not to be mad? You're asking me to agree to something tha-" Sheldon started arguing.

"_Sheldon,_ _I'm on a date with your sister and she's in labor. We're at the hospital, and she's asking for you._" Raj finally confessed. Sheldon fell speechless. This was certainly a situation he hadn't considered. Not only hadn't he considered his friends dating his sister, but he also hadn't considered what he was going to do once Missy actually had her baby. Sheldon glanced at Leonard and Howard who were expectantly looking at him.

"_Helloooo?_" Raj asked for the third time. Sheldon cleared his throat. He wasn't prepared to go to the hospital.

"Send Missy my regards. I have to go." Sheldon robotically said, ending their conversation with the press of a button. He put his phone back into his pocket and sat on the couch in his spot. As he maintained his calm exterior, he felt panicked on the inside. He didn't know what to do, so he picked up his cards.

"What the hell was that?" Howard asked. Sheldon refused to meet his eye. Instead he stared at an imperfection on one of his cards.

"Apparently Raj is dating my sister." Sheldon calmly told his friends. Howard and Raj exchanged surprised glances.

"Also, she's gone into labor and wants me to go to the hospital." Sheldon quietly added, quickly raising his eyebrows.

"You're being serious aren't you?" Leonard asked, smiling. Sheldon glanced at him.

"I am." He conferred. Leonard stood up and grabbed his keys.

"Where are you going?" Sheldon asked, knowing very well where Leonard was going.

"I'm driving you to the hospital." Leonard replied, shifting in his spot.

"You can drive there, but I won't be joining you." Sheldon softly protested, his eyebrows sat high on his forehead.

"Sheldon." Howard coerced, trying to sound comforting.

"She's your sister. You should go." He continued. Sheldon sighed. He knew that Howard was right. Of all people, he was somehow the voice of reason.

"Fine. I'll go. If I get sick-"

"You're not going to get sick." Leonard whined, clearly becoming agitated with Sheldon.

"Last time I went to the hospital to show support for Howard, I befell illness." Sheldon objected. Leonard rolled his eyes.

"Here we go." Leonard muttered under his breath.

"I was quarantined for two weeks Leonard!" Sheldon argued, raising his voice. His left eye twitched and his fists clenched. Leonard nodded.

"Okay, okay. If you get sick, which you won't, I will give you my New Excalibur #5 _signed_ by Stan Lee." Leonard assured. Sheldon couldn't resist. He practically leapt off the couch, and headed for the door.

"What are you waiting for? You heard the man, we're going to the hospital." Sheldon said as he glanced back at Howard who reluctantly got up off the couch and trailed behind. With the promise of a new comic book, Sheldon was off to the hospital to crash his sister's date with Raj.


End file.
